The Olympics, the Arabs, and Israel

In 2021, an Algerian judoka, Fethi Nourine, received a ten-year ban on participating in international competitions after he had refused to fight an Israeli, Tohar Butbul, at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. With that history hanging over him, at this year’s Olympics another Algerian judoka, Redouane Messaoud Dris, instead of insisting he would not fight an Israeli competitor, the same Tohar Butbul, simply stuffed himself so full of food that at weigh-in he was just slightly over — three-tenths of a pound — the limit in his weight class (<73 kg.), and thus disqualified from taking part in the competition as scheduled. Israel accused Dris of deliberately failing that weigh-in to avoid facing their athlete, but the Olympic Committee, while promising in late July to investigate the matter, has yet to report its findings and on possible sanctions that could be imposed on Redouane Messaoud Dris, just as they had been in 2021 on Fethi Nourine. Back in Algeria, Dris was hailed as a hero for disqualifying himself. It didn’t seem to matter to his countrymen that his move now made it impossible for Algeria to win a medal in the judo competition.

There has been a long list of matches deliberately lost by Arab competitors to non-Israelis, too, just so they would not have to face, at a future stage of the competition, an Israeli opponent. For some Arabs, the thought of such a match-up is too horrible to contemplate.

And even when the Arab athletes have agreed to meet Israeli competitors, there are always slights directed at their Israeli opponents. In the 2016 Rio Olympics judo competition, the Egyptian El Shehaby refused to shake hands with Ori Sasson after the Israeli defeated him. In this year’s judo competition, the Israeli judoka Baruch Shmailov won his first match in the men’s under-145-pound weight class against Morocco’s Abderrahmane Boushita. Boushita refused to shake his hand.

Then Baruch Shmailov lost his next match to a Muslim competitor from Tadjikistan, Nurali Emomali, who refused to shake his Israeli competitor’s hand and instead yelled out the Muslim war cry of “Allahu akbar.” (“My God is greater than yours”). But as many on social media have noted, what happened next was most satisfying. Emomali was not only defeated by his next opponent, the Japanese judoka Himumi Abe, but was thrown to the ground with a dislocated shoulder, which may affect his ability to compete in the future. He was seen sitting on the mat, crying uncontrollably. Some call it karma.

Another scandal involving an Arab competitor, but having nothing to do with Israel, concerns an Algerian boxer, one Imane Khelif, who claims to be a woman, and was allowed to compete in the woman’s welterweight boxing competition. Khelif had been booted from the 2023 female World Boxing Championships for reportedly having XY chromosomes. But the Algerian Olympic Committee managed to persuade the IOC to allow the hefty, muscular, most manly Imane Khelif to compete as a woman, and he/she has quickly dispatched every one of his opponents.

Though in every outward and visible sign — just look at his biceps — he was a man, this person with the XY chromosome was so powerful that his first opponent, Angela Carini of Italy, quit the ring after just 46 seconds, claiming she had never been hit so hard in her life. She called her match “unjust.” The Hungarian fighter Anna Luca Hamori, who also lost to Khelif, published numerous posts on social media before their fight that referred to Khelif being a man.

This controversy over the gender of Imane Khelif will nott go away. In both 2019 and 2023, Khelif was tested and found to be carrying the XY (male) chromosome. The real question is what led this year’s Olympic Committee, after such irrefutable evidence, to allow Khelif to compete as a man. There is plenty of corruption in international sport, especially when it comes to the deployment of Arab money. Think of how Qatar engaged in massive bribery, giving approximately $553 million to around 22 individuals, primarily 14 FIFA executive committee members. Those funds went offshore to places such as Monaco and Jersey for added discretion. And the bribes worked; Qatar got the right to hold the World Cup games in Doha in 2022. In all, Qatar spent the colossal sum of $220 billion on obtaining, hosting, and building all that infrastructure for the World Cup. Apparently the ruling Al-Thani family thought the expense was worth it. After all, what else can rich little Qatar boast about?

Algerian Olympic and Sports Committees director Yassine Arab has blamed the “Zionist lobby” for the charges made against the country’s Olympic boxer Imane Khelif. Thus far in the Paris Games, Khelif has won every round on every judge’s card.

“The Zionist lobby, they want to break the mind of Imane,” Arab proclaimed. “But now Imane is very strong. They don’t want that a Muslim girl or Arabic girl goes higher in the level of the rank of female boxing.”

No, Yassine Arab, the “Zionist lobby” cannot be blamed for the continuing controversy over Khelif’s real gender. Take a look at Imane Khelif’s massively muscled arms. No woman has arms like that. Look at the testimony of his opponents, such as Angela Carini, on how hard he hits — so hard, that she left the ring after 46 seconds of his pummeling, saying she had “never been hit so hard.” Look at the test results in both 2019 and in 2023 that concluded that “Imane Khelif” may claim to be a woman, but he/she was born with the telltale XY chromosome signifying maleness. How does Yassine Arab want to explain all of that?

Finally, there is the matter of Olympic medals. As of August 10, Israel had won seven medals — one gold, five silver, and one bronze. A creditable performance for such a small country. But more of note is that the Jewish state has won seven medals while all 22 of the Arab states put together only managed to win twelve.