Antisemitism in the Olympic Games

The modern Olympic Games or Olympics, are leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games are considered the world's foremost sports competition with more than 200 nations participating. The Olympic Games are held every four years, with the Summer and Winter Games alternating by occurring every four years but two years apart.[1] In the Olympic Games during the years, despite its approach of "peace through sport", there have been many expressions of antisemitism, most notably in the Munich Massacre of 1972, which ended in the death of eleven Israeli athletes. The first official commemoration in acknowledgment of the massacre happened in 2016.[2] Because Israel is the only Jewish state, most of the manifestations of antisemitism have taken anti-Israel forms.

The Olympic Games

Berlin - 1936

Athletics, 5000 m, Berlin 1936

• The 1936 Summer Olympics, held in Berlin, Germany soon after Adolf Hitler’s rise to power, were subjected to boycotts and racial discrimination.[3] Jews were banned from the German team. Critics claimed that Hitler used the Olympic stage to propagate his own political ideologies. Hitler was also heavily criticized for his racist attitude towards the Jewish participants in the games. Recognizing the exploitation of the Olympic Games for political purposes by Hitler, a number of organizations and leading politicians called for a boycott of the games.[3]

Munich - 1972

One of the Munich's terrorists

• During the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany, eleven Israeli Olympic team members were taken hostage by the Palestinian terrorist group Black September who eventually killed them along with a German police officer.[4][5][6][7] Shortly after the crisis began, they demanded 234 prisoners jailed in Israel and the German-held founders of the Red Army Faction (Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof) be released.[8][9] The attack was motivated by secular nationalism, with the commander of the terrorist group, Luttif Afif, having been born to Jewish and Christian parents.[10] German neo-Nazis gave the attackers logistical assistance.[11] Police officers killed five of the eight Black September members during a failed rescue attempt. They captured the three survivors, whom West Germany later released following hijacked Lufthansa Flight 615 in October. Mossad responded to the release with the 1973 Israeli raid on Lebanon and Operation Wrath of God, tracking down and killing Palestinians suspected of involvement in the massacre. On 3 August 2016, two days prior to the start of the 2016 Summer Olympics, the International Olympic Committee officially honored the eleven Israelis killed for the first time.[12]

Moscow - 1980

• Israel was one of the countries that boycotted the Moscow Olympics in protest at the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, but also because of Soviet anti-semitic and anti-Israel policies.[13]

Atlanta - 1996

• The French synchronized swimming team agreed to change their Holocaust themed performance for the Atlanta Olympic Games after protests from French Jews.[14]

Athens - 2004

• Iranian judoka Arash Miresmaeili was to fight the Israeli Ehud Vaks but was disqualified for being over the weight limit. In order to avoid implicit recognition of Israel, Iran forbids its athletes from competing against Israeli athletes. An Iranian National Olympic Committee spokesman said it was Iran's "general policy" not to face Israeli athletes. He earned public praise from the Iranian government.[15][16]

Beijing - 2008

• Iranian swimmer Mohammad Alirezaei refused to race in the same heat as Israeli Tom Beeri, who finished 4th, leaving his lane empty during the heat.[17] At the 2009 FINA World Aquatics Championships in Rome, Alirezaei refused to race in the same heat as Israeli competitor Mickey Malul.[17]

London - 2012

Remembering the Munich massacre, London 2012 (1)

• At a ceremony for memory of the 11 Israeli athletes and coaches that were killed at the 1972 Summer Olympics, top Olympics' official Jacques Rogge came under attack over the refusal to honor the dead with a minute’s silence at the opening ceremony of London 2012.[18] Instead, a week before the official opening of the Games, Rogge held a minute of silence during a minor ceremony in the Olympic village.

Rio de Janeiro - 2016

• Media outlets published a story about Palestinian swimmer Mary Al-Atrash, claiming she was unable to use an Olympic-sized pool for training.[19] “There is no Olympic-sized swimming pool in the Palestinian territories that Palestinians are allowed to use, so Atrash practices at the YMCA in Beit Sahour, near Bethlehem", Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported. “The pool is 25 meters long, half the length of the facility she’ll compete in at Rio". Israeli officials said she refused to apply for a permit to travel to Jerusalem to use their facilities.[20] Liel Leibovitz of Tablet Magazine pointed out that there are several full-sized pools within the Palestinian territories she could have used.

• Lebanese Olympians refused to ride on a bus with Israeli athletes to get to the opening ceremony of the 2016 Summer Olympics.[21] When the Israeli delegation of athletes and coaches tried to board the bus to Maracana stadium, the head of the Lebanese delegation blocked the entrance.[22][23][24]

• A Saudi female judo competitor forfeited her first round match at the Olympic Games to avoid going up against a rival from Israel, it has been claimed.[22] Joud Fahmy was supposed to have taken on Christianne Legentil from Mauritius for the right to take on Israel’s Gili Cohen in the next round. But before the clash, Saudi officials tweeted that she had injured her arm and leg during training and that medics had told her to pull out.[25] Afterwards, media outlets in Israel reportedly suggested that 22-year-old Fahmy was not injured. According to the Times of Israel, Channel 2 broadcaster said she had dropped out to avoid a fixture against an Israeli.[26]

• After losing a judo match, Islam El Shehaby, a fighter from Egypt, refused to shake his Israeli opponent’s hand — a major breach of judo etiquette. After beating him, Israeli fighter Ori Sasson extended his hand to El Shehaby. In response, the Egyptian fighter backed away, refusing to reciprocate the gesture.[19]

• In an Olympic qualifying match, Ala Ghasoun, a boxer from Syria, refused to fight an Israeli athlete. Ghasoun said competing with an athlete from Israel “would mean that I, as an athlete, and Syria, as a state, recognize the state of Israel".[27]

• Facebook placed Israel last on its list of competing countries without its flag. A Facebook feature, called Profile Frames, allowed users to add a flag and the Rio 2016 in their profile photo. The Israel option was placed at the bottom of the countries list after Zimbabwe, which was the last country alphabetically on the list. Also absent was the Israeli flag in the option. Instead, the flag of the Israeli Olympic Committee was available.[28]

See also

• Boycotts of Israel in sports
• Jewish Olympics
• Muscular Judaism

References

1. "Olympic Games".
2. "First official IOC ceremony in memory of Munich victims". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 2020-05-18.
3. "Most Controversial Summer Olympic Games In History".
4. Juan Sanchez (7 August 2007). Terrorism & Its Effects. Global Media. p. 144. ISBN 978-81-89940-93-5. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
5. The new dimension of international ... Google Books. 11 September 2001. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
6. Encyclopedia of terrorism . Google Books. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
7. The terrorist trap: America's ... Google Books. 18 July 1976. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
8. Reeve, Simon (22 January 2006), "Olympics Massacre: Munich – The real story", The Independent, archived from the original on 16 March 2012, retrieved 3 March 2012
9. Fleisher, Malkah (22 July 2012). ""Baffled" Bob Costas to Call Own Minute of Silence During Olympic Broadcast for Slain Israeli Team". The Jewish Press. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
10. Ciment, James (20 March 2015). Encyclopedia of Conflicts Since World War II. Routledge. p. 57. ISBN 978-1-317-47186-8. Early acts at Palestinian terrorism were geared toward drawing international attention to the plight of Arabs living under Israeli occupation and to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners. Unlike much later terrorism in the Arab Muslim world, these acts, which ranged from plane hijackings to targeted attacks on Israeli civilians, were motivated largely by a secular brand of nationalism. In fact, Luttif "Issa" Afif, the leader of the PLO-affiliated Black September group that captured and killed 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics, was born to a Jewish mother and a Christian father.
11. Latsch, Gunther; Wiegrefe, Klaus (18 June 2012), "Files Reveal Neo-Nazis Helped Palestinian Terrorists", Spiegel Online
12. "First official Olympic ceremony held in memory of Munich victims".
13. TIMELINE: Jews in the Summer Olympics
14. "French Olympic Team Dives Into a Whirlpool With Holocaust Theme". New York Times. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
15. "Unsportsmanlike conduct".
16. "BBC NEWS - Europe - Mystery over Iran judo 'protest'".
17. "Iranian swimmer refuses to race Israeli contender at worlds".
18. News, World. "Olympics officials accused of anti-Semitism over Munich remembrance".
19. "Anti-Semitism At The Olympics Is Completely Out Of Control". 12 August 2016.
20. "COGAT - Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories - Timeline - Facebook".
21. "Rio 2016 Olympics: Lebanese athletes refuse to travel with Israel team". 6 August 2016 – via www.bbc.com.
22. "Brazil Nuts: Anti-Semitism at the Summer Olympics - Ricochet". 9 August 2016.
23. http://www.washingtontimes.com, The Washington Times. "Israeli athletes at Rio Olympics endure 'shocking' hostility, taunting by Muslim nations".
24. "Anti-Semitism at Olympics by Muslim nations keeps age-old animosities alive". 11 August 2016.
25. Tacopino, Joe (9 August 2016). "Saudi Olympian forfeits match to avoid Israeli battle: reports".
26. "Saudi judoka forfeits Rio match, apparently to avoid Israeli".
27. "Refusing to compete against Israeli rival, Syrian boxer quits international tournie".
28. "Four Reasons the Olympics Were Unfriendly to Israel During Opening Weekend".