How did the Arab athletes disgrace the Zionists in the Olympics?
Abdul Bari Atwan, a prominent analyst in the Arab world, wrote in an article in the Rai Al-Youm newspaper: “Arab athletes hit and hit the Zionist regime hard during the Olympics.” In fact, they slapped the normalizers of the relationship.
“Algerian player Fathi Nourin and Sudanese player Mohamed Abdel Rasoul withdrew from the match with a representative of the Zionist regime and dealt a severe blow to the regime,” Atwan continued.
The prominent analyst of the Arab world also said: “Of course, in previous periods, we have witnessed the withdrawal of Arabic-speaking athletes from confronting the representatives of the Zionist regime’s sports teams.” For example, we can mention Salam al-Shahabi, an Egyptian athlete who withdrew from the match with the representative of the Zionist regime in 2016 and did not even agree to shake hands with him.
Atwan added: “All of this is happening while the Zionist regime has recently signed agreements to normalize relations with Arab countries.” Therefore, the Arab athletes’ refusal to confront the representative of this regime is a kind of response to their governments.
Abdul Bari Atwan further reminded: The action of Arab athletes in canceling the match with the representative of the Zionist regime shows that the agreements for the normalization of the Arab systems with the Zionist regime do not have popular support. Over the past period, the nations of Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Bahrain, Sudan, Morocco, the UAE, and so on have shown well that their path in confronting the Zionists is separate from that of the ruling regimes.
“During the recent Olympics, Algerian and Sudanese athletes did not want their gold medals to be soiled by confronting a representative of the Zionist regime,” the analysis said. The action of these athletes showed that normalization has reached the stage of bankruptcy. In fact, the Zionists and the Arab regimes tried to institutionalize the normalization of relations at various levels, but failed.
“The fact is that the Arab athletes took honorable positions and refused to face the Zionist athletes,” Atwan said. They defended the dignity of their nations. Their position is commendable. Arab athletes in the sports field taught a great lesson to the normalizers of relations. Today, millions of Muslims around the world stand up in honor of these athletes and stand in awe.
