Anti-Semitic incidents marked the start of 2025 in the world of sport. In the Canary Islands, an Israeli flag was burned in front of a basketball hall, while in New Zealand, a tennis match involving an Israeli player was disrupted by pro-Palestinian demonstrators. On the night of December 31 to January 1, images broadcast by local media in the Canary Islands showed the burning of an Israeli flag in front of the Gran Canaria Arena. This hall is due to host a match on January 2 between the local team and Hapoel Tel-Aviv as part of a European competition. The perpetrators of this act called for a boycott of the match, accusing Israel of “genocide” in Gaza.
At the same time, in Auckland, New Zealand, the tennis match between Israeli Lina Glushko and Japanese Naomi Osaka was temporarily interrupted by pro-Palestinian demonstrators. According to local media, security forces failed to evacuate the protesters.
The pro-Palestinian organization PSNA supported the action in a statement, saying it was unacceptable for a “reservist from an army committing genocide” to participate in the Auckland tournament.
Lina Glushko spoke about her experience on Israeli radio Kan Reshet Bet: “I was in shock. I started hearing shouts against Israel, then they approached the field. They were shouting ‘Lina kills children’ . This had never happened to me. Since yesterday, I started receiving a lot of messages. It was scary at one point, I was assigned a bodyguard.”
Belgium
