‘Spineless’ Rugby Union cowers to anti-Israel threats

The head of SA Rugby was bullied by anti-Israel “human rights” lobbyists, and given an ultimatum to withdraw the organisation’s invitation to an Israeli rugby team to play in a local tournament.

President of SA Rugby, Mark Alexander, told the SA Jewish Report that he and members of SA Rugby received countless “death threats” before succumbing on 3 February to demands to rescind an earlier invitation to the Tel Aviv Heat rugby team to play in the Mzansi Challenge next month.

“What was I supposed to do?” he asked.

When asked who was behind the threats and if he had reported them to the South African Police Service, he said, “I’m not going to give the names or go into details, the appropriate authorities are dealing with it. Go to the source, whoever is anti this.”

Alexander insists that the threats were the sole reason for the organisation deciding to rescind its invitation to Israel’s rugby team to compete in the upcoming Mzansi Challenge tournament, which kicks off on 24 March.

The multicultural Tel Aviv Heat squad comprises players from a host of nations, including numerous South African players and less than a handful of Israeli players, bridging culture, race, nationality, and religion.

SA Rugby announced recently that it was pumping new life into domestic-franchise rugby with the invitation of five international teams – the Diables (Spain), Simbas (Kenya), Welwitschias (Namibia), Tel Aviv Heat (Israel), and Goshawks (Zimbabwe) – to clash with the six local sides in the Currie Cup second tier – the first division.

That segment of the competition has been renamed the Mzansi Challenge. However, days later, the South African Rugby Union (SARU) announced that it had withdrawn the invitation to Tel Aviv Heat to play following “representations from multiple stakeholders”.

“We made a conscious decision to invite Tel Aviv Heat, but after we received death threats, we decided not to tempt fate because what if something goes wrong? We weren’t prepared to take the chance,” said Alexander, clearly rattled by pressure from the anti-Israel lobby.

“Rugby and sport in general has the ability to bring people together and enhance social cohesion. We don’t want to hold events that divide us. We must take security threats seriously,” he said.

The African National Congress (ANC) reportedly said in a statement, “We hope this decision will serve as a reminder to Israel that its illegal occupation of the Palestinian land is an injustice that shouldn’t be tolerated.”

Said Alexander, “We have a responsibility to make sure that players and spectators are safe. When there are threats, we simply don’t have the financial muscle to ensure that safety measures are put in place,” alluding to earlier media reports highlighting SA Rugby’s R258 million budget deficit for the year.

“We’re a self-funded organisation. We stand on our own, and we can only do so much with the money we have. We’re just a simple organisation that delivers high-performance athletes in a safe environment. We don’t take sides.

“We don’t discriminate against anybody,” Alexander said, “ It would be wrong to host a tournament where there are threats of unrest and security risks.”

“We’re a sporting structure, not a political body. The trouble is, no one takes a stand. They allow the little guys to be pushed around because we’re an easy target. It’s a disgrace.”

Alexander has come under attack from all sides after the shock withdrawal of the invitation to the Israeli team.

“It’s a sad day for SA rugby and SARU to allow itself to be intimidated by a bunch of thugs,” said Zev Krengel, the national vice-president of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD).

Describing the decision as “disgraceful and frankly embarrassing”, the SAJBD said it constituted “outright discrimination”.

“SARU has a disgraceful history of not allowing players of colour to play during apartheid, and it seems little has changed. It’s still a racist, discriminatory body 35-odd years later, doing exactly the same to Jews. It has no backbone,” Krengel said.

However Alexander insists the decision has nothing to do with race or antisemitism.

“I love the game, we don’t care where you come from, we don’t see colour, but I’ve had death threats since we announced the teams,” he said.

“We decided to include the Israeli team not knowing the pressure we would be under. All we want to do is play the game.”

“It’s appalling that the governing body of SA Rugby has caved in without a fight to those whose sole aim is to boycott Israel in every possible forum, even to the detriment of South Africa itself,” the SAJBD said in a statement.

“Threats, bullying, and intimidation have, of course, always been the modus operandi of the BDS [Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions] movement, and so it was in this case, with SARU members even reportedly receiving death threats. Such thuggish tactics are a direct attack not on how rugby is administered in South Africa, but on democracy itself.”

The Board accused SARU of “capitulating immediately” instead of “taking a firm, principled stand”. It said SARU’s claim that it was acting in the interests of maintaining “social cohesion” was “preposterous”, saying that the decision has caused “divisiveness and ill-feeling”.

Tel Aviv Heat said it was “surprised and disappointed” at the decision.

The team’s head coach, ex-South African Kevin Musikanth, said, “I and the players are devastated.”

“The bulk of our playing and management squad are South African from all races and religions. Most of them are now without playing and earning opportunities for this period. The players in our squad were relying on the income they would have received for their livelihoods, and are now significantly under pressure in their personal lives.

“It’s sad that we were welcomed into the competition, added to the fixture list, and then dumped because we’re an Israeli franchise. Our squad has the most diversity, with all races and religions. We’re proud of the diversity that’s part of the Tel Aviv Heat DNA, and now that the South African door is closed to us, we’re unable to show this amazing aspect of our club.”

The decision to block Tel Aviv Heat from participating “will only sow further division in South Africa and beyond by bolstering voices dedicated to vilify, demonise, and censor those who don’t share their views”, it said in a statement.

The South African Friends of Israel (SAFI) said the decision was a result of “political interference”, and the decision was made “simply because they reside in Israel”, according to SAFI spokesperson Pamela Ngubane.

“It’s saddening to see that SARU has allowed ANC politics and a BDS agenda to define who’s welcome to participate in sporting events in our beautiful country,” Ngubane said.

“We’ll regroup and focus on getting ready for the Super Cup, where we’re official participants, are welcomed by Rugby Europe, and have been over the past two seasons that we’ve played,” said Musikanth.

The Mexican Rhinos have been earmarked to replace Tel Aviv Heat.