Courtesy of JNS. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
The flag of New Zealand
(JNS) — Anti-Israel protesters interrupted a tennis match in Auckland, New Zealand, on Monday between Israeli player Lina Glushko and the four-time Grand Slam champion from Japan, Naomi Osaka.
New Zealand media reported that loud chanting by about a dozen protesters gathered outside the venue was audible inside, which forced the players to briefly halt the match and leave the court.
Security forces were unable to stop the use of microphones to amplify the chants, as the protesters were assembled in a public street.
According to RNZ, the Palestine Forum of New Zealand stated that they had disrupted the match because Glushko is a former Israel Defense Forces member and “symbolizes a regime that implements apartheid policies.”
An even longer delay in another match was caused by a second group of protesters that had gathered in a nearby park, according to the New Zealand Herald. Spanish player Leyre Romero Gormaz and Austrian player Julia Grabher left the court for more than 10 minutes before the match eventually resumed, the report said.
Per the Herald, Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa chairman John Minto said, “Politics and sport are always strongly linked and Glushko’s presence is part of Israel’s strategy to normalize its racism and apartheid against Palestinians.”
Osaka, who was absent for almost three months from the tennis circuit due to an injury, progressed to the second round with a close 6-4 6-4 victory over Glushko.
Speaking to the press, she said that the protests did not affect her.
“I heard a lot of shouting and then I was told by people on the sidelines that there was a protest,” she said.
Regarding Glushko, according to AP, Osaka remarked, “I think she’s a really amazing opponent. I’ve never played her before. It was good to have to scrap a little for the first round.”
