Tennis Court

What's in or out at the ASB Classic?

Baby, be the class clown
I'll be the beauty queen in tears
It's a new art form, showin' people how little we care (yeah)
We're so happy, even when we're smilin' out of fear
Let's go down to the tennis court and talk it up like, yeah (yeah)

Songwriters: Joel Little / Ella Yelich O Connor.

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What is going on with the ASB classic? The annual tennis tournament that many Kiwis enjoy watching at this time of year.

First, at the start of this week, there were protests about an Israeli player taking part, which is hardly surprising. Last I heard, there’s still a grotesque violation against humanity being undertaken by that state in Gaza, so someone representing that seems more than a little inappropriate.

Then, the next thing you know, they start telling people they can’t wear T-shirts with peaceful pro-te Tiriti messages and hounding them about their clothing as if they were 12-year-olds on their way to a boxing gym.

What sort of event is ASB sponsoring here, and what does this tell us about its values? Should we expect sporting bodies or banks to have morals?

Let’s start with events at the tennis…

The protest against Lina Glushko

Tennis is quite an image-conscious sort of a game. I don’t mean your local courts, but for an international tournament, glamour is emphasised. Strawberries and champagne, people dressed up for their day in the sun, a chance to spot some big names and possibly see some well-known tennis players, too.

Funnily enough, some people weren’t overly pleased that tennis player Lina Glushko, who is an army reservist for the IDF, you know, the armed force carrying out Israeli crimes against humanity in Gaza, was going to take part in the competition.

So they thought they, too, would pop along for a day at the tennis, or at least somewhere close by, and tell Lina and others within earshot what they thought of someone representing Israel at a sporting competition in Aotearoa.

Some of the protestors. Photo: Kathrine.

Yesterday, having taken an interest in the story, I posted on Facebook, “Please message me if you've been at the tennis and have anything to say about protests or people being told what to wear. Thanks.” As reader Winston noted, crowdsourcing information.

I ended up talking with a nice lady called Kathrine who had been there, and she told me about the protest, beyond the main group you might’ve seen covered on the news and sent through photos and video clips. This next part is in her words:

“I was with a small group of protesters who trekked through the bushes to find a spot closer to the match; our chanting was so effective as to stop the match.

Our initial position was on the motorway bridge, and then we moved across to a spot at the bottom of the Domain, next to the stadium. We garnered much attention from the spectators within the officially fenced-off ASB area (we were amongst the bushes on the Domain side).

Unfortunately, an aggrieved spectator tracked us down and snatched our microphone, which we couldn’t get back from him. So, we blue-toothed the speaker and played some Palestinian rap until the Police came.

Police moved us out of the area. They weren’t aggressive, and in fact, after a lot of asking/negotiations, they returned the stolen mic. Then, we joined the others out on the road, and after Lina’s match, we sang a finishing song.”

Thank you, Kathrine, for talking with me; hearing about your reasons for being there was sobering, and it’s been a long time between drinks.

You told me of the young men you’ve spoken to and how they are constantly being watched by drones and accept their fate. Of the plight of women and the struggle for survival and to sustain their children. Of bodies unburied and people unable to undertake ceremonial burial, one of the earliest advances in human civilisation.

For the record, Lina lost in straight sets, and the song the protestors sang was Na Na Na Na Hey Hey Hey Goodbye. Which I’m sure you know, and if you don’t, you might like to watch Remember the Titans - a far more noble sports story than this.

How is Israel still welcome at sporting events?

Maybe part of you is thinking, this doesn’t sound very sporting, jeering a player; it’s hardly her fault what is happening.

Well, for some reason, there is no attempt to distance the player from Israel, in the same way that we’ve seen Russians appear at major sports tournaments as independent athletes to distance themselves from the unacceptable actions of their own nation.

But this doesn’t happen with Israel; players and teams proudly represent their country and play beneath a flag that represents the ethnic cleansing being undertaken in Gaza.

Regardless of the individual, in my view, there should not be anyone playing under the Israeli flag, representing that state, at any sporting competition, let alone one happening here in Aotearoa, while their barbarity continues. Given the scale of the killing by the Israeli state, the least the international community ought to be doing is stopping travel, economic, and sporting contact with that regime; they should be a pariah for their actions.

Unfortunately, the people running tennis disagree. Tournament director Nicolas Lamperin said in the Herald that Glushko was “entitled to participate in the tournament, under current WTA regulations, with no restrictions on Israeli players, who are also allowed to compete under their flag, unlike Russian and Belarusian players.”

So WTA has decided Russia is bad, but Israel - is just fine, and the local tournament organisers just sit on their hands and say, “We’re only following instructions”?

I’m not expecting moral leadership from an International Sporting body. But ideally, you’d like to see some from governments.

Not big ones like America, who have seemingly given Israel a get-out-of-jail-free card that never expires no matter what they do. But smaller countries should show leadership where none is present from our so-called allies who happily appease genocide. Like Ireland, who last month moved to unilaterally suspend trade with Israel on products originating from the occupied West Bank.

Or us, do you remember the plucky little New Zealand that used to stand for things on the world stage? I do.

When I was a kid, sporting contact with South Africa and Nuclear testing in the Pacific were big issues, and we had leaders who took stands. You’ll understand if I’m not holding my breath waiting for the current lot to “do the right thing.”

Or of course, the major sponsors - the ASB bank. Hello? We’re watching, guys - is this the image you intended for your brand?

Don’t blame the player

Still, what about this, Lina?

As we know, Glushko is a reservist for the IDF, the Israeli Defence Force, but then, all Israelis face conscription; they don’t have much choice.

They do have a choice over what they say about what their government is doing, though, and it turns out our tennis player is quite the fan…

“In these tough days, what my country is going through I can’t be more proud and happy to play with the Israeli flag next to my name and win matches” - Lina Glushko.

Okay, that's quite messed up, and anyone who still feels sympathy for the player might want to contrast that comment with the images we see of Gaza. Those images make Lina proud to represent her country, Israel, the state which is carrying out genocide.

Oh, and if you believe that the word “genocide” is too harsh and should only be directed at others rather than Palestinians, then just how different would things look if Israel were attempting to eliminate the Palestinian people?

It seems to me that they are focused on exactly that task and that it is perfectly acceptable to Lina, the tournament organisers, the WTA, and the amiable folks at the ASB Bank.

Don’t you just want to rush out and open an account with them?

Toitū Te Tiriti, but not at the tennis.

Hold that thought because the tournament organisers then had another brain fart.

It was as if they decided any publicity was good publicity, and association with Israel just wasn’t enough. They wanted to stir up some local outrage for media coverage beyond the shame of flying the flag for genocide. So they googled “protest and NZ” and found the Treaty Principles Bill, being promoted by the party of the 1%, which was something that hundreds or thousands of Kiwis were furious about.

They didn’t even have to steal people’s land to cause a ruckus; they could simply take away clothing items with peaceful messages in support of honouring the Treaty and really piss people off. So they did.

As you might have read in Stuff, “Taranaki-based lawyer Neal Harding was surprised to be told by security staff at the ASB Classic on Wednesday that he had to remove his Toitū Te Tiriti shirt, a request a spokesperson for the event later said was a mistake.”

Taranaki lawyer Neal Harding said he was told by security staff at the ASB Classic tennis tournament in Auckland that he was not allowed to wear his Toitū Te Tiriti t-shirt. Photo: Stuff/Supplied.

To summarise events:

• Harding was pulled aside at the entrance to the tournament and told that his shirt was not allowed as the venue was trying to avoid “contentious” issues.

• He disputed the request, and the staff member said he would speak to the security manager and allowed him to go to his seat.

• Another staff member approached him about 15 minutes later and told him the shirt was “unacceptable”. Harding decided to turn the shirt inside out and took a photo of himself.

• The same staff member left but then returned and told him, “Actually, I need to take your shirt”, despite him now wearing it inside out.

• The staff member left after he refused to hand over the shirt.

• Harding met with a security manager who gave him a “firm handshake” and apologised for the incident.

The Security Manager told Harding it was “the result of a miscommunication, and their concern was with international politics.” I wonder which international situation they were trying to stop people protesting against. I can think of one, can you?

Saying it was a mistake by a security guard, or in this case, multiple security guards, kind of smacks of a politician announcing away something that doesn’t look so good in hindsight, saying it was the work of an “emotional staffer”.

Look, I’m not suggesting a specific directive was given, but that’s kind of the point. I am assuming that these people are professional and receive clear instructions. You can’t just point security personnel at a crowd and say, “Have at it, any trouble, sort it.”

Who’s responsible?

We broke ties with apartheid South Africa, and many of us have long argued we ought to do the same with Israel - and that was before the current situation in Gaza.

Now that is taking place, and we see such horrendous sights and statistics, surely nobody in their right mind would think it was appropriate to have someone performing under the flag of the Israeli regime.

But, it turns out that the ASB, a large Australian Bank that likes to portray itself as part of the community and standing for decent values, says it’s just fine.

Organisers and sponsors are happy to have Israel at their tournament and don’t want people protesting.

Despite, or perhaps because of, the magnitude of their crimes against humanity, the Israelis are surprisingly sensitive to criticism. With their bodyguard, the USA, they have for years bullied and cajoled other countries out of doing what was right.

Given that governments, who are theoretically elected to represent the people's views, end up smiling complacently, it’s not really a stretch for a bank with no moral responsibility other than to shareholders to stand idly by.

Those looking to confiscate clothing clearly wanted to stop protests against Israel, and the fact is they support the rights of an Israeli player to play under the flag of a murderous regime over the rights of a New Zealander to wear a t-shirt with a peaceful message in support of what many consider the founding document of our country.

Perhaps think about that the next time you see one of those smiley-faced commercials about how the ASB are a part of our community or some other nonsense.

To finish, an appropriate track from Lorde - Tennis Court. Have a good day all you lovely people. Especially Kathrine and Neal, a couple of really decent Kiwis that we can take pride in.