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London: Israeli athletes who were due to compete in an international triathlon in the Northern Irish city of Londonderry this weekend will no longer be taking part, race organisers said Thursday.<\/strong><\/p>\n North West Triathlon Club (NWTC) said it had made \u201cstrong representations\u201d that it could not support the participation of four Israeli athletes in the Europe Triathlon Cup.<\/p>\n But Julie Middleton, a member of the legislative Northern Ireland assembly for the pro-UK Democratic Unionist Party, said the fact the Israeli quartet had been barred from a race set to feature up to 200 athletes from around the world was \u201can awful reflection on Londonderry\u201d.<\/p>\n Middleton added: \u201cAn international sporting event that should showcase our city\u2019s hospitality and openness has instead become associated with the exclusion of athletes because they are Israeli.\u201d<\/p>\n NWTC, in a social media statement, said it became aware of the potential participation of Israeli athletes only when the provisional entry list for Saturday\u2019s race was published on the World Triathlon website.<\/p>\n \u201cNWTC immediately made strong representations to Triathlon Ireland and Europe Triathlon and made clear in the strongest possible terms that it could not support their participation in the circumstances,\u201d the organisation said.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the avoidance of any doubt, athletes representing Israel will not be participating in the City of Derry Triathlon on Saturday\u2026There will be no Israeli representation competing at this event.\u201d<\/p>\n The NWTC said their stance was not \u201cdirected at anyone because of their religion or ethnicity, but was a position \u201cconcerning representation of the state of Israel in international sport and the attempt to present normality on the international sporting stage while Palestinians continue to suffer\u201d.<\/p>\n A statement from the Police Service of Northern Ireland said it \u201cbecame aware of potential protest activity in relation to the event through social media.\u201d<\/p>\n