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Indonesia will stop Israel Athletes competing at the upcoming gymnastics world championships in Jakarta, a government official said on Thursday.
The decision to deny visas to Israeli athletes following their planned participation comes after intense opposition in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, which has long been a staunch supporter. Palestinians,
Israel is one of 86 nations registered to compete at the worlds starting in Jakarta on October 19, including a team led by 2020 Olympic gold medalist and reigning world champion in men’s floor exercise Artem Dolgopyat.
Its participation is now in doubt, even though the Israeli Gymnastics Federation said in July that Indonesian officials had assured it it would be welcomed on the world stage. This would have gone against Indonesia’s long-standing policy of refusing to host Israeli sporting delegations for major events.
On Thursday, Indonesia’s senior law minister, Yusril Ihja Mahendra, made it clear that despite Israel and Hamas agreeing to a ceasefire, the Israeli team would not be allowed into the country.
“The government will not grant visas to Israeli gymnasts who intend to compete at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Jakarta,” Mahendra said.
He said in a video statement that the decision is in line with previous instructions from Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, and also in his recent speech. United Nations General AssemblyIn which Israel was strongly condemned for the continuous attacks on the Gaza Strip.
Mahendra acknowledged that the Indonesian Gymnastic Federation had previously submitted a sponsorship letter for the six Israeli athletes to obtain visas, but “the federation has withdrawn the sponsorship letter.”
In recent days, Indonesian politicians and moderate Muslim groups have increased calls for the Israeli team to be banned from the world. They have been flooded with angry comments on social media from users objecting to the arrival of athletes from a country they say is committing genocide.
Jakarta Governor Pramono Anung said that the humanitarian catastrophe caused by the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza is unbearable and that the arrival of Israeli athletes will cause deep emotional distress to most Indonesians.
“His presence in such a situation will obviously provoke public anger,” Anung told reporters on Wednesday.
Indonesia’s supreme Islamic body MUI had urged all communities supporting Palestinian independence to oust the Israeli team.
MUI Secretary General Amirsyah Tambunan said, “By refusing to allow Israeli athletes to compete in the sporting arena, we want to convey that all forms of colonialism must be ended as they are contrary to humanity and justice.”
The Israeli Gymnastics Federation did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The gymnastics controversy is the latest example of how the global backlash against Israel over the humanitarian toll of the war in Gaza has spilled over into the realms of sport and culture. Israel’s critics say it should be sidelined from international events in the same way Russia has been following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Cycling team Israel Premier Tech announced on Monday it was changing its name and moving away from its national identity, less than a month after it pulled out of a race in Italy due to concerns about pro-Palestinian protests, and the Spanish Vuelta was repeatedly disrupted by protests against the team.
In soccer, Israel’s World Cup qualifying match in Italy next week is expected to attract more pro-Palestinian protesters outside the stadium in Udine than ticket-holding spectators inside the arena.
Indonesia was stripped of the right to host soccer’s U-20 World Cup in 2023 just two months before the tournament was due to begin amid political turmoil over Israel’s participation.
Indonesia has drawn a clear line for decades. Since the 1962 Asian Games when Israel and Taiwan were excluded from Jakarta, the country has consistently refused to host Israeli delegations.
“That stance was never about pettiness or separatism, it was a reflection of Indonesia’s conviction that no sporting event should legitimize the apartheid state,” said Muhammad Zulfiqar Rahmat, a researcher at the Center of Economic and Law Studies, or CELIOS.