On July 24, Algerian judoka Fethi Nourine and his coach had their Olympic accreditation withdrawn and were sent home after the athlete refused to face Israel’s Tohar Butbul. A Sudanese judoka also didn’t show up later for a match against the Israeli.
For pro-Palestinian extremists, this is considered a victory and is called withdrawing in “honor” rather than losing or facing an Israeli opponent.
Meanwhile, Saudi athlete Tahani al-Qahtani did face her Israeli opponent, Raz Hershko. Qahtani lost, but she was widely praised in Israeli media and by others and received backing at home in Saudi Arabia.
The treatment of Israeli athletes is unique. No other country in the world has athletes who are so often treated like this due to political or diplomatic disputes between countries.
For instance, when Kosovo received full International Olympic Committee membership in 2014, the Serbian Olympic Committee president was asked if his players would compete against Kosovo. In response, he said: “Yes, of course, because we have to be part of the society… Personally, I had a similar situation when we [Yugoslavia] were banned from competing in the 1992 Olympics, so I insist that we look at this issue with sporting eyes and let the politicians do their job.”
This is sportsmanship, where sports are put above politics and ethnic or religious issues. The treatment of Israel is entirely about hatred of Jews and nothing else in the Middle East. This is clear from the fact that no matter how awful other conflicts are all over the world, these same athletes don’t refuse to compete with one another.
Pakistan and India may have differences over Kashmir, but their athletes compete. There may be wars from across the Sahel to Somalia, but war is generally postponed when it comes to the Olympics.
It is one of the unique aspects of the treatment of Israel in the Middle East that illustrates how hatred of Israel and refusal to normalize with the state, which also pollutes Olympic sports now, is a unique phenomenon.
While there are other states that lack recognition by some other states, like Kosovo, it doesn’t usually affect their athletes at the Olympics.
ONLY IN the Middle East is the view of Israel one of not just refusal to normalize because of a territorial dispute, but refusal to see the people who live in Israel as people. This has generally been coddled and excused by the international community, which never made recognition a priority.
For that reason, countries far away from Israel, such as Pakistan and Malaysia, were always given a pass for nonrecognition.
The Abraham Accords are so significant precisely because they illustrate not only the importance of recognition, but the way sports, culture and tolerance of interfaith issues can grow out of normalization.
There is no shortage of other athletes at the Olympics who face hurdles because of geopolitical disputes. Taiwan competes as “Chinese Taipei” at the Olympics due to the Nagoya Resolution that enables the island, which is not seen as an independent country by many, to compete, but not under its own name, flag or anthem, according to reports.
The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is not recognized by any country besides Turkey, has also had struggles getting athletes to the Olympics.
“The former President of the IOC [International Olympic Committee], the late Juan Antonio Samaranch, had made an offer to Turkish Cypriots to allow them to participate in all future Olympic Games under the Olympic flag,” a 2012 letter said. “Turkish Cypriots are willing to accept participation under the terms laid out by the former IOC President and to join the Games under the Olympic flag as individuals rather than under their own national flag.”
Crimean athletes also ran into challenges after 2014. “Crimean Artur Ayvazyan won gold in rifle shooting at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, competing under Ukraine’s flag,” USA Today reported in 2016. “After Russia’s annexation of Crimea, like many athletes, he switched his allegiance from Ukraine to Russia. The decision may have cost him his last chance to win an Olympic medal.
“While Russia offers better living conditions and financial support for athletes, Ayvazyan, 43, is now stuck. A three-year ‘quarantine’ period demanded by Ukraine means he can only compete within Russia. So while Russia and Ukraine’s top shooters are preparing for the games, Ayvazyan is staying put in the Crimean capital, Simferopol.”
THIS ILLUSTRATES that while many other countries and places have disputes that may impact Olympic sport, it doesn’t usually go as far as boycotting athletes. This is because athletes all over the world generally respect each other as fellow athletes. Only with Israel is the hatred, antisemitism and lack of recognition so deep that it goes as far as refusal to compete.
This refusal to even shake the hand of Israelis surpasses Nazi actions at the Olympics in the 1930s. Brainwashing people to hate Jews and Israelis in the region goes far beyond being a national issue. Athletes are encouraged not to see Israelis as people, which is about not seeing Jews as people.
There is only one Jewish state, and it is not a coincidence that this is the one state to which this is done.
This is the result of growing up in a region where some people hear that Jews are “sons of pigs and apes,” enemies are accused of being “Jews,” and chants of “Khaybar, Khaybar, ya Yahud” (Jews, remember Khaybar), referring to an ancient battle against Jews, is common.
Iranian-backed groups, such as the Houthis, shout: “Curse the Jews” and “Death to Israel.” There is no other group they “curse.”
While new inroads to coexistence are being built across the region, some holdouts still discriminate against Israel and Jews. While one hopes this will be reduced by the next Olympics, the propaganda in some regional media continues to push discrimination.
In 2016, an athlete refused to shake the hand of an Israeli, insinuating that Israelis, as Jews, are beneath others. Only Israelis get this treatment systematically. There is simply no other example of such unsportsmanlike behavior.
That is part of the unique discrimination that exists at the Olympics, driven by the far-right nationalist press and media linked to pro-Palestinian causes that depict those who refuse to compete with Israelis as heroes and mock those who do.