Antisemitism in global athletics cannot be hidden under seemingly obscure sporting events

An echo report published in Commentary/Europe:*

December 31, 2024 Europe

The Lawn Bowling Scandal Is Much More Important Than It Sounds
by Seth Mandel

Sometimes the events most worthy of our outrage can go woefully under-protested simply because they sound silly.

The latest example comes to us from the wide sporting world of bowls. Americans are likely most familiar with Bocce, except for Franco-Americans who play pétanque. But all are versions of the same idea that boils down to a form of lawn bowling: Roll (or toss) the ball as close to the target as you can.

The World Bowls Tour is what it sounds like: a global league for both indoor and outdoor lawn bowling. The WBT has disinvited qualifying Israeli players from the World Indoor Championship based solely on their nationality. Pressure groups bullied the bowls.

Again, from a sporting perspective, Americans may find this more obscure than Cricket. But as an indication of European society’s blithe submission to delirious anti-Semitism, it is deeply worrying. And when Europe succumbs to its Jew-baiting instincts—well, it tends to be bad for everyone.

So, I recommend quickly getting past one’s discomfort with publicly registering outrage over lawn-bowling competitions. The widespread attempts to establish de facto Jew-bans in global athletics and other leisure activities is ominous; we should acknowledge that they have only come for bowls because they’ve already come for soccer, hockey, rugby, and even Ultimate Frisbee.

This isn’t about bowls; it’s about an attempt to have Western social life mimic the ethnic exclusivity of 20th century country clubs.

The WBT was surprisingly forthright about its choice: “as a result of the intensity of the situation, the WBT board, in consultation with our event partners and other relevant stakeholders, has made the difficult decision to withdraw the invitation for Israel to participate in the forthcoming World Indoor Championships. This decision affects Daniel Alonim in the World Singles, as well as Amnon Amar and Itai Rigbi in the World Open Pairs.”

Well, forthright at first, anyway. The next part of the statement is hilariously Orwellian: “This decision was not taken lightly and has been made in the best interests of the event’s success and integrity. Bowls is, and always has been, a sport that unites people and this choice reflects our commitment to protecting the championships and ensuring they run smoothly for everyone involved.”

The sport “unites people,” therefore it must exclude people. The event’s “integrity” was at stake, therefore players who earned their place will no longer be allowed to participate in the competition.

I don’t fully blame them for the phrasing, though: Anyone who would apply a nationality ban to a sport in the year 2024, cannot possibly know what “integrity” means.

The Telegraph reports that the WBT decision was likely influenced by a ramped-up campaign of anti-Semitism aimed at disrupting last month’s Scottish International Open. The anti-Semites were very angry and noisy, and there is no similar constituency in Europe for non-anti-Semitism, so here we are.

In fact, that Scottish campaign seems to have found some success as well, forcing an Israeli competitor out of the Scottish International Open. Scottish Sport for Palestine rejoiced: “Scotland can be proud once again.” (Once again?)

If for no other reason, these leagues should (must❗) refuse to submit to such pressure campaigns because of the campaigns’ sheer dirtbaggery alone. Scottish Sport for Palestine made a poster featuring a now-disinvited Israeli competitor’s name and picture and a description of him as someone who “runs a landscaping business clearing Palestinian land for the occupation.”

In other words, because he is a Jew who lives in the Levant, his existence is illegitimate and his rights are automatically limited. That European sporting leagues are susceptible to overt blood-and-soil Palestinian nationalism is unfortunate. Additionally, I don’t know much about this group Scottish Sport for Palestine, but if it is a coalition of Scottish athletes then I question how much pressure they could possibly put on the WBT.

Last month, a youth Maccabi Berlin soccer team was chased home from the field by attackers wielding knives and clubs. As I noted at the time, Maccabi Berlin is a legacy organization: Prior to the Holocaust, Jews established clubs like Maccabi precisely because they were excluded from mainstream national sports leagues.

So although it may sound unimportant, especially to an American ear, the fuss over lawn bowling is significant. The intent of these campaigners is to sweep Jews out of every corner of nonpolitical social life in Europe, and beyond.

*About Commentary: COMMENTARY is a highly acclaimed monthly magazine of opinion and a pivotal voice in American intellectual life. Since its inception in 1945, and increasingly after it emerged as the flagship of neoconservatism in the 1970s, the magazine has been consistently engaged with several large, interrelated questions: the fate of democracy and of democratic ideas in a world threatened by totalitarian ideologies; the state of American and Western security; the future of the Jews, Judaism, and Jewish culture in Israel, the United States, and around the world; and the preservation of high culture in an age of political correctness and the collapse of critical standards.Many of COMMENTARY’s articles have been controversial, and more than a few have been hugely influential—touchstones for debate and discussion in universities, among policy analysts in and out of government, within the ranks of professionals and community activists, and in circles of serious thought worldwide. A large number of articles can be counted as landmarks of American letters and intellectual life. Agree with it or disagree with it, COMMENTARY cannot be ignored. To read it is to take part in the great American discussion.