Saudi judo Olympian ignores pressure to boycott bout against Israeli - before clasping her opponent'

[Jilly_in_VA]

A Saudi Arabian judoka faced off against her Israeli opponent at the Tokyo Olympics today - defying pressure to follow the lead of two other Muslim athletes who boycotted their bouts.

Tahani al-Qahtani fought against Raz Hershko in the women's 78kg category at Tokyo on Friday, before the pair clasped hands and raised them in the air as a show of solidary when the bout was over.

Questions had swirled over whether the bout would go ahead after two Muslim athletes in the men's 73kg competition walked out rather than get in the ring with an Israeli opponent.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9843705/Saudi-judo-Olympian-ignores-pressure-boycott-bout-against-Israeli.html
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The Olympic spirit wins again!

[MagickMuffin]

1. And the Women lead the way

Kudos to them.

[Biophilic]

3. This!! This gives me hope. The women will eventually lead the way. nt

[Jilly_in_VA]

2. I think both guys quit

because they didn't want to fight that particular guy, not necessarily because he's Israeli. They probably knew he'd kick their ass.

[JI7]

4. Yup, they didn't want to lose to an Israeli.

[Tarc]

6. Did you actually read the article?

The Algerian quit the contest before even facing Abdalrasool, saying he didn't want to 'get my hands dirty' by risking a fight with the Israeli.

What he said has a specific and antisemitic meaning.

[Jilly_in_VA]

16. The Algerian guy

was ordered home by his government. He may be in some trouble there, so what he did was not sanctioned. I read that in another article.

[Tarc]

5. Sudan and Algeria Should be kicked out of the Olympics

It isn't enough that they suspend the individual and send them home, more likely than not to a hero's welcome. These nations have to be pressured into weeding these antisemitic clowns out of their sporting bodies before they cna even get this far.

[Blue_true]

9. I agree totally. Suspend them from the next two World Championships

and the London Olympics. What they did is bullshit and violates every ethos of athletic competition.

[thenelm1]

7. Definite kudos, but one hopes she doesn't face repercussions when she gets home. n/t

[IronLionZion]

8. I hope there's no bonesaws or anything like that

she showed the Olympic spirit and shouldn't be punished for it.

[Blue_true]

10. Saudi Arabia and Israel are on decent diplomatic terms right now.

My guess is she let her feelings be known to team officials and they had no issues with her plans.

[thenelm1]

15. The gov'ts may be trying to work things out, but the religious fanatics?

As to officials knowing in advance? Maybe, but look at us in the good ole US of A. Our own extremist from the right are threatening anyone from their "side" who doesn't kowtow to their views (whatever the heck they might be - not really sure they know for the most part beyond "sticking it to the libs", whatever that is supposed to mean).

Here we have a woman, from a country that already treats women as chattel, and you don't think that there will be no pushback from their own religious fundamentalists? A trait that country has been notorious for since forever? I hope you're right.

[George II]

11. Video of the end of the match:

Link to tweet

[crickets]

12. Good sportsmanship from both of them. That's wonderful to see. 💖

[Beastly Boy]

13. Good to know that some people who respect their sport of chhoice don't mind

getting their hands dirty and not drag the Palestinial cause into every contest.

[GulfCoast66]

14. I'm actually surprised she could be seen without a head covering.

Was this even shown in SA?

I hate SA on a level almost as bad as North Korea.

No fan of Iran either. But women there are treated much better. Not well, mind you. But they drive and can be independent. Not treated like property And there is a memory there when they were treated more like they are in the west. There was a huge women’s protest when the Islamic republic was declared.

Please realize I’m talking about the governments. Although lots of the people must be down with the religious bullshit.