Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise the same issue. What I want to say is not a political commentary on what has happened but to say that sports and politics do not mix. What is really unfortunate about this situation is that individual players who only want to play the game and do their best to represent Ireland are now being put at the centre of a political controversy. They do not deserve that.

What is really unfair is that the rhetoric now coming from the Israeli Basketball Association uses words like "antisemitism". I have said in this House before, to oppose Israeli policy in terms of Palestine is not antisemitism. It has nothing to do with Jews, the Jewish faith or Judaism at all. It has to do with the disgraceful behaviour of Israel in terms of its neighbours in Palestine. It is war crimes and, in my view, it is genocide specifically of the population in Gaza. For the Israeli Basketball Association to criticise Basketball Ireland for not responding in the spirit of sport at the same time that it is allowing its players to pose with the Israel Defense Forces, in the presence of heavy arms, is absolutely outrageous. In fact, it shows just how far they have drifted from the spirit of sport and accusing individual players. If there are individual players on the Irish basketball team who have decided not to play then that is their decision and I praise them for it without criticising those who have decided to play. It is a very unfair position to put this team in. They are doing their best to represent this country. Now they are in a situation where they are being criticised and praised, depending on which side people are on. They are not politicians. They are sportspeople and should be allowed to get on with playing their sports. We should send a very clear message to FIBA, which is the international body, that the spirit of sport, which are the terms used by the Israeli Basketball Association, is very much absent from the behaviour of the Israeli team in terms of their approach to this and putting people at the heart of this does sport no good whatsoever.