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A young basketball fan was briefly detained by police during a game in Jerusalem on Sunday after wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with a slogan protesting National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
The incident, which sparked a heated debate about freedom of expression, occurred at the Pais Arena complex.
The 17-year-old fan, identified on social media as Tom, wore a T-shirt with the provocative message “FCK BNGVR.”
Videos circulating on social media show him being escorted away by a group of officers through the concession area, drawing the attention of fellow spectators.
Tom recounted the experience to the Haaretz daily, stating, “Suddenly, 15 policemen approached me and said, ‘You’re coming with us.’
They were all huge, and none of them had name tags. I immediately raised my hands and demanded to know why, what I had done.” According to Tom, an officer told him he was causing provocations and disturbing public order.
Despite being detained, Tom was later returned to the stands without any charges. The police, however, provided a different narrative.
A spokesman stated that the fan was removed for allegedly insulting officers during a song by one of the teams, not specifically for the T-shirt.
“Contrary to what was claimed… One of the fans insulted the policemen as part of a song. At one point, the officers removed the fan from the scene, and after he apologized, he was returned to the stands,” the police spokesman was quoted as saying.
Eyewitness accounts from other attendees, however, contradicted the police’s version of events. Many spectators expressed their belief that the police had specifically targeted Tom due to his T-shirt.
One spectator said, “At halftime, we went outside to buy food, and the police were looking for him in the crowd… It was clear to us why he was detained because he was the only one with the shirt against Ben Gvir.”
The incident drew widespread attention on social media, with activists promoting links to purchase similar T-shirts. These designs echo the FCK HMS shirts that emerged last year as a show of solidarity after the Hamas-led October 7 attacks in southern Israel.
In response to the incident, Labor MK Gilad Kariv criticized Ben Gvir, alleging that the national security minister was pressuring police to suppress dissenting voices. In a passionate post on social media platform X, Kariv stated, “I hope that tens of thousands more T-shirts will be printed and that the fan in question will sue the police.”
Tom is a supporter of Hapoel Tel Aviv, a basketball club whose fans have a history of contentious interactions with law enforcement. This tension has been attributed, in part, to the traditionally left-leaning political stance of the club’s fanbase.
Ben Gvir, the leader of the far-right Oztma Yehudit party, has faced ongoing public backlash for his hardline policies and controversial management of the police since taking office in December 2022.
His tenure has been marked by allegations of police violence against anti-government protesters, and rising crime rates have been reported, including an increase in murders, during his time in office.
As the debate over freedom of expression and police conduct intensifies, the incident serves as a stark reminder of the political tensions that permeate Israeli society today.