Various pro-Palestinian groups are blocking the entrances to the Nou Congost arena on Wednesday, aiming to prevent the Israeli team Hapoel Jerusalem from entering the venue for their Eurocup match against Baxi Manresa. The game is scheduled to take place behind closed doors at 20:45 local time. The organizations “Prou complicitat amb Israel” (Enough complicity with Israel), “Boicot ICL,” and the Palestinian Community of Catalonia had called for a protest at the Nou Congost parking lot at 16:00 (14:00 GMT) under the slogan “Stop the game; stop the genocide.”
However, the Mossos d’Esquadra (Catalan police) have set up a security cordon around the Manresa sports complex since the morning, leading protesters to split up and block the three entrances to the arena. The goal is to prevent the Hapoel team bus from arriving, which was expected about two hours before the match. The La Farinera area has the highest concentration of demonstrators—around 150—many waving Palestinian flags and chanting slogans against Israel. A large banner at the front of the protest reads: “Love basketball; hate genocide. Boycott Israel.”
Anna, a spokesperson for Boicot ICL, explained the reason for the protest: “We got together months ago with Bàsquet Manresa fans to stop this match, because we cannot allow a game with an Israeli team to be held in our home.” According to her, “It’s important that the idea that politics and sport are unrelated doesn’t take hold—they are clearly linked. Sport is one of the strategies Israel uses to whitewash all the war crimes it is committing.”
The protester stressed that “it’s unacceptable for entertainment to take precedence over the 66,000 deaths Gaza has suffered” and insisted that the demonstration would continue as long as necessary with the clear objective of “blocking the bus carrying the players.” Organizers say the action is supported by Bàsquet Manresa fan clubs, the Manresa Popular Movement, and most unions, as part of the general strike for Palestine planned for the same day.
Jordi Garcés, spokesperson for the fan group Zona Roja, said the right to protest is “completely legitimate” and regretted that police prevented them from doing so inside the Nou Congost complex. He pointed out a “positive reading”—that “the fact that the match is being played behind closed doors” already represents “an anomaly showing that something is wrong, and it’s the great rejection of the genocide being committed in Palestine.” However, Garcés, who recalled that his group previously called for “all Israeli teams to be expelled from European competitions,” distanced Zona Roja from the goal of physically stopping the match.
