Khaberni - Indonesia refused on Friday to grant visas to Israeli gymnasts, costing them a loss of a place in a world championship in Jakarta this month, while the UN Special Rapporteur on cultural rights called for Israel's exclusion from international sports competitions.
It was scheduled for the Israeli team to participate in the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships from October 19 to 25 in Indonesia.
Indonesian Minister of Legal Affairs Yusrel Iza Mahendra stated that his country decided not to issue visas to Israeli athletes, attributing this to objections from groups such as the Council of Islamic Scholars and the government of Jakarta.
Yusrel added in a statement that the decision is in line with Indonesia's policy of not establishing relations with Israel until it recognizes the independence of the state of Palestine and its full sovereignty.
Excluding Israel
In this context, the UN Special Rapporteur on cultural rights, Alexandra Xantaki, stated that the time has come to exclude Israel from international sports competitions, regardless of any "peace plan", as she put it.
In an interview with the Anadolu Agency, Xantaki highlighted the significance of this step after the International Independent Commission of Inquiry concluded that Israel had committed a genocide in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Special Rapporteur invited the European Football Association (UEFA) to exclude Israel from international competitions, without waiting for the results of President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war on Gaza and exchange prisoners.
Xantaki stated, "We decided to speak out because we cannot act as if things are normal, and football associations cannot act in this way either. Unfortunately, sports institutions are not proactive in addressing human rights violations, but here we are not talking about ordinary violations, but about an extraordinary and unprecedented crime."
She reported that the committee has evidence from 41 UN-appointed rapporteurs and independent experts confirming the occurrence of severe Israeli crimes in Gaza.
In September, the International Independent Investigation Commission on the Occupied Palestinian Territories confirmed Israel's commission of genocide in the Gaza Strip, urging countries around the world to fulfill their obligations to stop them.
The report of the committee concluded that Israel committed in Gaza 4 out of 5 acts of genocide as defined in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, including killing, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately exacerbating living conditions to the extent of wholly or partially destroying the Palestinians, and implementing measures intended to prevent births.
The ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement came into effect after the Israeli government approved it last night, yet the occupation's fire continued this morning in various parts of the Gaza Strip.
