Islamist threat forces Israelis to play tennis to empty house

From AP:

Sweden and Israel will play their first-round Davis Cup match in an empty arena next month because of security concerns.

Several anti-Israeli demonstrations are planned during the best-of-five series, which will be played March 6-8 at the 4,000-seat Baltic Hall.

Malmo officials announced the decision after a vote on the issue in the city's recreational committee. The Swedish Social Democratic Party and the Left Party won the vote 5-4 after a long debate.

The committee said it could not guarantee security for the fans.

``It's a high-risk match,'' committee chairman Bengt Forsberg was quoted as saying by Swedish news agency TT.

Only officials, some sponsors and journalists will be allowed to enter the arena.

Carlos Gonzales Ramos, the committee's vice chairman, wanted to call off the match.

``But since it was not possible to do so, this was best result,'' he told TT.

Now, what sort of security concerns could cause such a decision? Could it be because everyone knows that when normal people protest, it is not too disruptive, but when Muslims protest, there is always a decent chance for violence?

Nah. This is simply being careful, nothing to do with the possibility of Islamic rioting and destruction.

(h/t LGF)