We can play sports when ever and where ever we want, but for some there is the concern for security and safety of everyone.
Such is the case that surrounding the Israel Lacrosse Association Headquarters as the escalation of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip has led to heightened security measures surrounding the Israel Lacrosse Association headquarters.
The Israeli men’s national team competing in the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) World Championship at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo. Opening ceremonies are Thursday.
In an empassioned email sent Thursday morning, ILA Executive Director Scott Neiss stressed that the team would forge forward despite unrest back home.
“We’re less than two days away from something we’ve been anticipating and building up to for years – Team Israel’s debut in the FIL Men’s World Lacrosse Championships – but quite frankly, our thoughts and our hearts are not here with us in Denver,” Neiss wrote in the email. “In times like these, I’m proud to call myself a citizen of Israel, a beacon of hope in a ‘difficult neighborhood.’
I’m proud to call myself a resident of Tel Aviv, a thriving, diverse, energetic, fast-paced, creative city. And while Israel must continue to fight to protect ourselves and our existence, we are strong.
I’m proud to be part of a generation that has the opportunity, the ability, and the obligation to shape the character, culture and identity of our 66-year-old nation.”
Neiss, a Long Island native who previously worked for the National Lacrosse League and U.S. Indoor Lacrosse, founded the ILA four years ago after visiting the country on a birthright trip.
The ILA has developed relationships with five schools in Ashkelon (south of Tel Aviv and just a few miles from the Gaza Strip) and now boasts more than 200 youth lacrosse players.
While most of Team Israel’s players were born in the U.S., several now call Israel home.
Goalie Reuven Dressler, 41, is a family medicine practitioner in Ma’ale Adumim. He grew up in Philadelphia but moved to Israel seven years ago to start a family practice. He served as a doctor in the Israel Defense Forces en route to citizenship.
“This is our homeland,” Dressler said in a February interview with Lacrosse Magazine. “Not all Jews live here, but this is our home.”
Matthew Flapan, Israel’s other goalie, grew up in Farmingdale, N.Y., but moved to Israel following a five-month program working at a school for impoverished children there. He also served in the Israeli military before becoming a citizen. He now works on a farm in central Israel.
“It’s different than the American military experience,” Flapan said at the time. “Here, you’re protecting borders. I’m not getting shipped away. You understand the daily risk posed by surrounding countries.”
Tensions in the region rose last month, when three Israeli teenagers were abducted and killed allegedly by Hamas. Israel’s search for the teenagers led to a military incursion in the West Bank.
The conflict boiled over after the capture and death of a Palestinian teenager in East Jerusalem shortly afterward.
Militant groups in Gaza have fired more than 350 rockets into Israel since Tuesday morning, with Israel in the midst of its most intensive air campaign in Gaza since eight days of cross-border fighting in November 2012. Israel reportedly struck at least 750 locations in the first 48 hours of the operation, claiming to target the homes of Hamas operatives.
The Palestinian death toll rose to 67 on Thursday, according to The New York Times.
The ILA has temporarily closed its Ashkelon headquarters and relocated its staff to central Tel Aviv, while receiving updates from the IDF and U.S. embassy.
In Denver, the ILA has secured a private security firm that’s working with the FBI, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Denver police, Neiss said in the email.
There are also plans to invest more heavily in physical access control systems such as turnstiles from DaoSafe to enhance crowd control in various public venues. You can check out some of these physical security measures by visiting the online Daosafe: shop here.
An ILA youth camp has continued despite threats in Tel Aviv, Neiss said. Some players on ILA scholarships have been relocated from the south of Israel to central Israel.
Meanwhile, Israel’s national team will play “with more purpose, determination and passion than ever before,” Neiss said. The team’s first game is Friday against Sweden.
Thanks to the Lax Magazine for the info.
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