{"id":115014,"date":"2024-08-16T17:05:36","date_gmt":"2024-08-16T15:05:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=115014"},"modified":"2024-08-16T11:14:26","modified_gmt":"2024-08-16T09:14:26","slug":"17-05-102","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=115014","title":{"rendered":"My word: Pride in the face of prejudice in Paris – opinion"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>My word: Pride in the face of prejudice in Paris – opinion<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

LIAT COLLINS<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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The attempts to ban Israelis from international events ostensibly due to security threats should not be belittled \u2013 it\u2019s a boycott measure in a different guise, punishing Israel for being the victim.<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n

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\nISRAEL\u2019S RHYTHMIC gymnastics team celebrates its silver medal on the podium at the Paris Olympic Games last week.<\/em><\/span>
\n(photo credit: MIKE BLAKE\/REUTERS)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The Olympics are all about national pride. But for Israel, particularly this year,\u00a0the Olympics<\/a>\u00a0were more than that. They were a collective expression of survival, strength, and hope. Make that \u201cThe Hope,\u201d \u201cHatikvah,\u201d in the words of the national anthem.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

For Israelis, these weren\u2019t the Summer Olympics 2024, they were the Olympics of October 7 + 10 months. Since that dark day in October, we have been trying to come to terms with a series of horrific events: the\u00a0Hamas invasion<\/a>\u00a0and mega-atrocity, when 1,200 people were murdered, many of them raped, mutilated, and burned to death; more than 250 abducted to Gaza, where some 115 remain, around 70 of them presumed still alive. Thousands have been wounded in the ongoing war and terrorist attacks. Some 80,000 Israelis have been internally displaced. And the threats of a massive Iranian attack, perhaps together with its terrorist proxies\u00a0Hamas, Hezbollah<\/a>, and the Houthis, are ever-present.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

All this means that Israelis desperately needed some escapism and good news. And the blue-and-white Team Israel provided it aplenty. It was \u201cnachat\u201d as we say in Hebrew, \u201cnachas,\u201d in Yiddish \u2013 a family pride and satisfaction.<\/span><\/p>\n

When the Israeli rhythmic gymnastics team won the silver medal on Saturday, a stranger I met during a Shabbat afternoon stroll with a friend told us the good news. He judged correctly from our attire that we did not use our phones, radios, or TVs on the Sabbath and would appreciate the update. The last time we heard people passing on news like this was when Israel successfully rescued four hostages on Saturday, June 8.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

The rhythmic gymnastics team\u2019s win was the country\u2019s seventh medal in the Paris Olympic Games and brought the overall tally over the years up to 20. \u201cWe won seven medals after what happened to us as a country on October 7,\u201d said Gili Lustig, CEO of the Israel Olympic Committee, summing up the feelings of most citizens. \u201c…This is the victory over what happened to us on October 7. We were all on a mission and there is nothing more symbolic than that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\nHANNA MINENKO and Yaakov Toumarkin lead the Israeli delegation of athletes at the opening of the Tokyo Olympics, in which the country captured four medals. (credit: REUTERS)<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

October 7 and the fate of the hostages are never far away. It wasn\u2019t just the members of the rhythmic gymnastics team \u2013 who spoke uncannily in sync, after so many months of training together \u2013 who dedicated their win to the hostages and the fallen.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

One of the most touching moments was seeing the heartbreak of Avishag Semberg (an Olympic bronze medalist from the Tokyo Olympics) who failed to make it to the podium this year. Through her tears, she sobbed: \u201cI\u2019d already prepared what I was going to say about the hostages.\u201d This was how she perceived her loss \u2013 the loss of a chance to dedicate her win to the victims of October 7.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dedicating performances to victims of October 7<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Banned by Olympic rules from wearing yellow pins for the hostages, many of the female contestants and winners instead wore yellow ribbons in their hair.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

Windsurfer Tom Reuveny, who won a gold medal, dedicated his win to his brother, a combat soldier serving in Gaza, describing him and his comrades as true heroes.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

The other Israeli medalists were windsurfer Sharon Kantor, \u00a0who won a silver; gymnast Artem Dolgopyat, who added a silver medal to his Tokyo gold; the female rhythmic gymnastics team; female judokas Raz Hershko and Inbar Lanir, who also won silver medals; and judoka Peter Paltchik, who won a bronze medal \u2013 and won Israeli hearts as he wiped the tears from the face of his coach Oren Smadja as they embraced. Smadja had accompanied the judo team to Paris despite losing his son Omer in battle in Gaza six weeks before the Olympics.<\/span><\/p>\n

As The Jerusalem Post\u2019s Herb Keinon put it: \u201cTheir tribute to the fallen soldiers and the hostages at their moment of personal triumph is akin to breaking a glass under a wedding canopy at Jewish wedding ceremonies \u2013 remembrance of national tragedy even in times of greatest personal joy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

SECURITY WAS tight for everyone, but especially for the Israeli team. It has been ever since the Munich Olympic Games in 1972. Eleven members of the Israeli Olympic team were murdered by Palestinian terrorists in the Munich Massacre. It is shameful that the International Olympic Committee did not see fit to commemorate their deaths this year and the only ceremony was arranged by the Israeli Olympic Committee in the Israeli embassy in Paris.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

I paid attention to the Olympic coaches, including Team Israel head and former judoka Yael Arad, who won the country\u2019s first-ever Olympic medal, a bronze, in Barcelona (1992); Smajda who won Israel\u2019s second medal, a bronze, shortly after Arad; Gal Fridman, Israel\u2019s first gold medalist, who won the windsurfing competition in Athens (2004) and coached Reuveny; and Linoy Ashram, who won gold in rhythmic gymnastics in 2020, and coached the individual events while Ayelet Zussman, Ashram\u2019s former coach, trained the team for the winning group event.<\/span><\/p>\n

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It was noteworthy that so much homegrown talent is nurturing the next generation. How much potential was brutally lost in Munich when the terrorists perpetrated their atrocity in 1972?<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

At the Munich Olympics, Palestinian terrorists from the Black September movement first held members of the Israeli team hostage in the Olympic Village, killing two; nine others were killed during a botched German rescue operation. The televised hostage holding \u2013 the theater of terror \u2013 put the Palestinian cause on the world map and made the world forever less safe. A line connects the Palestinian atrocity at Munich in 1972 to last week\u2019s cancellation of Taylor Swift\u2019s Eras Tour concert in Vienna due to a thwarted ISIS attack.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

The Palestinians could win the gold medal for chutzpah. Jibril Rajoub, a leading member of the Palestinian Fatah movement, was jailed in Israeli prisons for many years as a convicted terrorist before being released as part of a prisoner exchange in 1985. He now serves as head of the Palestinian Olympic Committee and Palestinian Football Association. But he\u2019s not a good sport. Ahead of the Paris Olympics, he sought to get the Israeli team banned. For him, the Olympic spirit includes the terrorism at Munich.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

There was a small Palestinian delegation in the Paris games. My Facebook feed was filled with reports of runner Layla al-Masri, for example. Al-Masri, whose family name means \u201cThe Egyptian,\u201d is a \u201cPalestinian\u201d born and raised in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she reportedly is currently an assistant coach at the local university\u2019s women\u2019s cross-country team. She was apparently invited by Rajoub to participate in the Palestinian team.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

On the other hand, Israelis swiftly adopted as their own American gold-medalist wrestler Amit Elor, whose parents were born in Ashkelon and who has described Israel as her second home. Arad made no secret of trying to encourage her to make aliyah and compete in the Los Angeles games with Team Israel.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

After her win, Elor spoke out in social media video clips against antisemitism saying: \u201cEighty years ago my grandparents survived the Holocaust, but antisemitism is still all around us…\u201d Proudly displaying her gold medal, Elor declared: \u201cMy grandparents won. I won. Humanity will win. Never again.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

There were some anti-Israeli and antisemitic incidents at the Games, including the Algerian judoka who arrived at the weigh-in over the limit for his category thus avoiding competing against Israel\u2019s Tohar Butbul. Tajikistan\u2019s Nurali Emomali refused to shake Butbul\u2019s hand after beating the Israeli, but in an act of karma, the cold shoulder was rewarded by a dislocated shoulder in a later fight with a Japanese competitor that left Emomali in tears.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

A firm supporter of democratic Taiwan, I\u2019m pained to see its treatment at the Olympics, where its anthem, flag, and even its name are banned, due to Chinese insistence that it not be recognized as an independent state. The Communist People\u2019s Republic of China ousted and replaced Taiwan at the UN in 1971 and the lesson of what the Olympics calls \u201cChinese Tapei\u201d is a sobering one.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

In a story easy to overlook, Israeli competitive frisbee-playing teens last week were notified at the last minute that they had been banned from the 2024 Under 17 European Youth Ultimate Championships in Ghent, Belgium, as police could not guarantee their security following threats and vandalism. Another win for the Palestinian terrorists and their supporters in Europe.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

The attempts to ban Israelis from international events ostensibly due to security threats should not be belittled \u2013 it\u2019s a boycott measure in a different guise, punishing Israel for being the victim.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/section>\n

Meanwhile, the 28 members of the Israeli Paralympic team are preparing to bring us more pride in Paris, every team member already a winner in a country of survivors.<\/span><\/p>\n

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My word: Pride in the face of prejudice in Paris – opinion LIAT COLLINS The attempts to ban Israelis from international events ostensibly due to security threats should not be belittled \u2013 it\u2019s a boycott measure in a different guise, punishing Israel for being the victim. . ISRAEL\u2019S RHYTHMIC gymnastics team celebrates its silver medal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115014"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=115014"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115037,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115014\/revisions\/115037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=115014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=115014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=115014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}