Enes Kanter Freedom talks Israel and Vatican basketball camps during religious freedom event
Misty Severi
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Former NBA player Enes Kanter Freedom discussed his international youth basketball camps during an event on Capitol Hill on Monday, claiming it was a way to inspire younger generations.
Freedom said he started a basketball camp at the Vatican two weeks ago, following a meeting with Pope Francis, which marked the second foreign basketball camp for the sports star.
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“At the Vatican about two weeks ago, I had an incredible meeting with the pope,” Freedom said during an International Religious Freedom event on Monday. “Then, we organized a basketball camp, and it was unbelievable. Some of the nuns came, actually, and I realized it was one of the most beautiful camps because I realized that basketball camps are a great way to inspire younger generations.”
Freedom said the camp at the Vatican came after the success of a basketball camp he hosted in Israel, which he decided to create after attending an International Religious Freedom summit last year.
“I came up with this crazy idea to go to Israel and organize this basketball camp. I said, ‘Let’s bring these Israelis, Palestinians, Christians, Catholics, Muslims, Jews, and let’s play basketball,'” Freedom said. “Forget about the conflict, forget the war, forget about everything that’s going on and just play basketball.”
Although there was skepticism from his friends at the beginning of the camp, Freedom said watching the children play the game had amazed him.
One girl from Europe did not originally want to go to a basketball camp in Israel, Freedom said. But after playing at the camp for one week, the girl apologized for not seeing the unity in the sport.
“The biggest reason I wanted to come here today is because I want to know what people are going through,” Freedom said. “Because these kids are basketball fans, and they are asking a lot of questions about what’s happening in China, what happened to the Muslims, what’s happening in Taiwan. It gives me hope because these kids are asking me about more than just: ‘Who is the better player, LeBron or Kobe.'”
Freedom’s address fell during the International Religious Freedom’s Congressional Advocacy Day, which occurred the day before a two-day International Religious Freedom summit.
The advocacy day includes over 200 meetings with Capitol Hill staffers and members of Congress and culminates in a solidarity event with persecuted religious groups. The event features speeches from faith representatives and policy experts on the persecution affecting the Uyghurs, Rohingya, Christians, Yazidis, Hazaras, Ahmadi Muslims, and Falun Gong, who will address members of Congress.
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Freedom, who currently has a $500,000 bounty on his head from Turkey after speaking out about human rights violations in the country, told the Washington Examiner that he wants to be a voice for other communities.
“I came here to learn about different religions, different backgrounds, different communities. It gives me so much hope and motivation to keep fighting when I see that I’m not alone in this,” Freedom told the Washington Examiner after the event. “At the basketball camps, we invite everybody, so I really want to learn about the struggles that others are having so I can be their voice.”
The international summit will take place at the Washington Hilton hotel in Washington, D.C., from Jan. 31 through Feb. 1.