The Clare Sadaka Chair insists it’s “totally wrong” for the Irish women’s basketball team to go ahead with their match against Israel this afternoon.
With the clash fixed for a 4:30pm start, many voices have cited the rising death toll in Gaza as justification for Ireland to pull out of the fixture.
The 2025 EuroBasket qualifier has garnered the spotlight for all the wrong reasons in the last number of days after pictures emerged on social media of Israeli players posing with members of the Israeli Defence Forces.
27,840 people have died in Gaza since the October 7th attacks, while in the past 24 hours alone, the IDF have reportedly killed 130 people and wounded 170.
For this reason, prominent figures such as former Kerry footballer Kieran Donaghy have urged the Irish team to boycott today’s qualifier, who says “it’s never too late to do the right thing”.
Clare-based Chair of Sadaka, The Ireland Palestine Alliance, Eamon Meehan says history shows that sport is inherently political and he claims the Irish team must show their support for the Palestinian people.
Basketball Ireland has deemed comments made by Israeli player Dor Sa’ar, which accused Ireland of being “quite anti-semitic”, as “wholly innaccurate” and has added that the comments have been reported to the International Basketball Federation.
Responding to calls for the team to boycott the game, Basketball Ireland CEO John Feehan says the reprocussions of such an action, which would include a fine of approximately €80,000, would set the team back a decade.
Following the news that several Irish players have refused to travel to Latvia for the game, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar says FIBA should consider banning Israel from the competition.
Turning to the situation in Gaza, Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz has thanked the Biden administration for its recent efforts to devise a plan for the release of Israeli captives.
A Hamas delegation meanwhile has arrived in Cairo for negotiations with Israel on an immediate ceasefire in the territory.
Newmarket-on-Fergus historian and Professor of Politics and History at DCU, Donncha Ó Beacháin believes Israel’s military might is such that even if the US pulled its financial and military support, it would have little bearing on the conflict.
You can listen to the full interview below.