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Olympics in Rio: Not All Fun, Games for Israeli Athletes

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The 2016 Olympic Games is an opportunity for countries to lay aside their political differences and focus on one thing: earning a gold medal.

Israeli athletes, however, are bearing the brunt of political hostility that is all too familiar to the Jewish nation-state – so much so that the International Olympic Committee has reprimanded Lebanese and Saudi athletes for their behavior.

"Shocking but not surprisingly, the Lebanese and Saudi delegations obviously have the wrong idea about the Olympic Games," said Roz Rothstein, CEO of the pro-Israel group Stand with USM in a statement this week.

"Instead of using the events to forget animosity and promote peace between people, they have brought their brainwashed minds to Rio," Rothstein said. "How unfortunate that they could not implement the good, peaceful intentions of the Olympics, and instead have used it as a forum to spread hate and continued rejection of peace."

The IOC issued a warning to the head of the Lebanese Olympic delegation after he blocked several Israeli athletes from entering a bus the teams were supposed to share to reach the opening ceremony.

"The bus driver opened the door, but this time the head of the Lebanese delegation blocked the aisle and entrance," Gal said on Facebook. "The organizers wanted to avoid an international and physical incident and sent us away to a different bus."

Miri Regev, Israeli minister of Culture and Sports, called the Lebanese incident "anti-Semitism, pure and simple, and the worst kind of racism."

Saleem al-Haj Nacoula, head of the Lebanese delegation, told Arabic media that he physically stood at the door of the vehicle and blocked them from boarding the bus.

"I told the bus driver to close the door, but a trainer who was with the Israelis prevented him from doing so," he said, as reported by The Times of Israel. "I had to physically stand at the door and block him and the rest of the delegation from boarding, knowing that some were trying to force their way through and were looking for trouble."

The Washington Times reports that Arab and Muslim athletes have, at times, refused to compete against Israeli athletes.

Joud Fahmy of Saudi Arabia forfeited a first-round judo match last week. The Israeli pressed described the move as a tactic to avoid facing Israel's Gili Cohen in the second round.

Although Fahmy's team disputed the claim and said she had sustained injuries during training, there have been other incidences in which athletes have refused to compete with Israelis.

In June, Syrian boxer Ala Ghasoun would not compete in an Olympic qualifying match against an Israeli, saying that to do so "would mean that I, as an athlete, and Syria, as a state, recognize the State of Israel," reported The Washington Times.

"I quit the competition because my rival was Israeli, and I cannot shake his hand or compete against him while he represents a Zionist regime that kills the Syrian people," Ghasoun said in Arabic media, according to Jerusalem's i24 News.

"These days, anti-Israel violence at the Olympics has been replaced by politics," the Anti-Defamation League said in a statement, "with representatives from countries hostile to Israel going to great lengths to avoid any interaction with Israeli athletes."

 

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