Ninja Israel star Shneor Simcha: "A day before the competition, they decided that Israelis cannot participate"

A disturbing and outrageous incident: an Israeli team that arrived in Spain for the OCR World Championship received notice one day before the start of the competition that they would not be able to participate due to protests by locals. Shneor Simcha, a Ninja Israel star and member of the team, published a video this Saturday on TikTok, sharing the ordeal the delegation is going through.

"I am looking at the track that I unfortunately reached in Spain, and I cannot get on it just because I am Israeli. A day before the competition, they suddenly decided that Israelis cannot participate. How fun for us, right? I am Shneor Simcha, but right now I am Shneor sad. I am Israeli and they won't let me compete. This is the situation we are in," he said.

He later elaborated on the events: "There was a mess there. I compete in OCR, an obstacle course that involves a 100-meter sprint with many obstacles. This is a very intense competition, and we arrived as an official delegation on behalf of Israel. A day before, the organization suddenly announced that Israelis cannot participate. Out of nowhere, a real boom."

"We were in shock, we didn't understand what was happening. The competition association likes Israelis, but it turns out that the locals arrived and started threatening the organization that if Israelis came to the competition, there would be trouble. A situation arose where we were a day before the competition, not knowing if we could compete, and in the meantime, they told us we could not," he added, emphasizing the hard work of the team members in preparation.

Simcha noted that the team faced significant hostility on the streets: "This is the most antisemitic place I have ever been to in the world. I walk down the street and on every balcony there is a Palestinian flag. In Gaza there aren't that many flags; it is extreme and antisemitic to the worst levels possible. In the morning they told us that we were not competing, and then they said it was possible to come and train in the meantime, but without any Israeli markings—no flag or official shirt. I don't believe I am saying this, but there really was a big mess."

"It was very frustrating, because I am training on the track, touching, trying, and after that I realize that it is possible that I am not going to get on the track at all tomorrow in the qualifiers. It was very scary," he concluded.