The United Arab Emirates’ top judo official apologised to his Israeli counterpart on Saturday after a tournament in Abu Dhabi saw Israeli athletes repeatedly snubbed by their hosts because of their nationality.
Mohammad Bin Thaloub Al-Darei, president of the UAE’s Judo Federation, and Aref Al-Awani, another senior Emirates sports official, apologised to Israeli Judo Association head Moshe Ponte over the fact that an athlete from the UAE refused to shake hands with an Israeli judoka after a match during the several-day tournament, according to a statement from the International Judo Federation.
Darei and Awani “apologised because of the UAE athletes not shaking hands with the Israel athletes, and also congratulated the Israel team for their success here,” IJF president Marius Vizer said. He called the move a “gesture of courage.”
On Friday, the UAE’s Rashad Almashjari refused to shake hands after losing to Israeli Tohar Butbul in the first round of the men’s lightweight (66-73 kg) category.
Butbul went on to win bronze, one of several medals won by Israelis at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam judo tournament.
However, Israeli symbols were banned during the competition, and the flag did not appear during medal ceremonies.
“As you can see I don’t have the flag,” Or Sasson said on Saturday after winning the bronze medal in the over 100 kilogram category, pointing the bare patch on his chest where the other competitors had their national flag. “But my heart is always, always, with the state of Israel. I hope I made you proud and I will always continue to represent you with pride,” he said.
The entire Israeli team was required to compete without any Israeli identifying symbols, and had been told before the tournament that there would be no acknowledgement of their home country, a discriminatory policy imposed solely on the Israeli competitors.
On Thursday, event organizers refused to play the Israeli national anthem or display the Israeli flag when Israeli judoka Tal Flicker won the gold medal in the men’s under-66 kilogram category. The same day, the flag was left out when Gili Cohen won bronze on the women’s side in under-52 kilogram class.
Flicker sang out his own private “Hatikvah” under the International Judo Federation’s (IJF) flag, as the federation’s anthem played in the background.
