Rio 2016: The anti-Semitic Games?
Israel’s Jewish athletes are being shunned at the 2016 Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro. Is it anti-Semitism?
Beaten by Israeli fighter Or Sasson in the judo, Egypt’s Islam el-Shehaby refused to shake his Israeli opponent’s hand. He looked like a bad sport, and in a sports arena that’s no good thing.
Reports claim El-Shehaby is an idealist unable to separate sports from race, religion and politics, rather than a sore loser. The NYPost claims El-Shabby (sic) was under pressure from Islamists to refuse to fight Sasson. The Daily Mail provides an example. “My son watch out, don’t be fooled, or fool yourself thinking you will play with the Israeli athlete to defeat him and make Egypt happy,” said the host of an Egyptian TV station. “Egypt will cry. Egypt will be sad and you will be seen as a traitor and a normalizer in the eyes of your people.”
The International Judo Federation’s Nicolas Messner says: “This is already a big improvement that Arabic countries accept to (fight) Israel… There is no obligation to shake hands, but to bow is mandatory… his attitude will be reviewed after the games to see if any further action should be taken.”
The Jerusalem Post says Syrian boxer Ala Ghasoun heard the call and refused to fight an Israeli athlete.
The Washington Times reports says the Lebanese barred Israelis from boarding a bus.
Palestinian swimmer Mary al-Atrash told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp: “There is no Olympic-sized swimming pool in the Palestinian territories that Palestinians are allowed to use, so Atrash practices at the YMCA in Beit Sahour, near Bethlehem. The pool is 25 meters long, half the length of the facility she’ll compete in at Rio.”
Israel say they invited Atrash to apply for a permit to travel to Jerusalem to use their facilities. She didn’t. Liel Liebovitz of Tablet Magazine added that there are several full-sized pools within the Palestinian territories.
Posted: 14th, August 2016 | In: Back pages, Reviews, Sports Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
