A triple defeat/Not only was Islam El Shehaby beaten by the ‘Zionist enemy’ in judo, he also came under fire for shaming his president and his country by refusing to shake Israeli Ori Sasson’s hand after the match. A third blow awaits him when he returns home.
Smadar Perry/Ynetnews/August 14/16
Op-ed: Not only was Islam El Shehaby beaten by the ‘Zionist enemy’ in judo, he also came under fire for shaming his president and his country by refusing to shake Israeli Ori Sasson’s hand after the match. A third blow awaits him when he returns home.
Islam El Shehaby suffered a triple defeat: From the “Zionist enemy’s” judoka, from those in the comments section that did not like what they saw on the mat, and his final defeat awaits him at home. Egypt’s security forces are going to question him about the nature of his ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and about why he insisted on shaming President al-Sisi in front of the entire world.
The relations between the Presidential Palace in Cairo and the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, Israel’s intelligence community and the IDF, have never prospered as they have during al-Sisi’s regime. The help provided by Israel to Egypt does not only extend into the Sinai Peninsula, but also to Capitol Hill and to the International Monetary Fund. As long as he has Israel’s ear, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has no problem shaking Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hand and dining at his table in Jerusalem.
The two countries help each other in international organizations, while operations vis-à-vis the Gaza Strip are conducted with almost complete transparency. Other fields of cooperation cannot be publicized due to their sensitive nature. But the peace prevailing on the leadership level did not make its way down to the Egyptian street, to intellectual circles and, more importantly, to Egypt’s unions. Those caught in the act of “normalization with the Zionist enemy,” will be subjected to scrutiny by their peers and find themselves placed on “a social trial.” They will even risk losing their livelihood. We should not judge El Shehaby by the length of his beard. All he wanted was to return home in peace, without angering his union. It is important to note that the Egyptian sports minister and the heads of Cairo’s delegation to Rio anticipated the danger and warned him to “play by the rules.”I had a hard time finding any support for him in the Egyptian media. As the headlines spoke of “the defeat,” the scores of Egyptian commentators rebuked El Shehaby for the double blow to Egyptian honor. He took a serious beating and added insult to injury at the wrong time. I’d give a lot to be able to listen in on Netanyahu’s next phone call to al-Sisi, with whom he often speaks. Netanyahu will probably remind the Egyptian president that the peace agreement between the two nations was signed 40 years ago, and yet we still see proof that there is no education for peace on the Egyptian side.
Egyptian Olympic will open an investigation into Egyptian Judoka Islam el-Shehaby Can’t ask me to shake the hand of someone from this State,’ says Egyptian judoka Jerusalem Post/August 14/16/The Egyptian Olympic Committee said on Saturday said it will open an investigation into Egyptian Judoka Islam el-Shehaby after he failed after he failed to shake the hand of Israeli opponent Or Sasson following his loss on Friday. The Egyptian Olympic Committee said it has summoned el-Shehaby to a hearing on the matter in order to listen to his version of events. The committee added that it will release its decision in the next 48 hours. Before speaking to the committee, however, el-Shehaby said he respects the rules of the sport and had no obligation to shake hands with his opponent. “Shaking the hand of your opponent is not an obligation written in the judo rules. It happens between friends and he’s not my friend,” L’Esprit du Judo quoted El Shehaby as saying. “I have no problem with Jewish people or any other religion or different beliefs. But for personal reasons, you can’t ask me to shake the hand of anyone from this State, especially in front of the whole world,” he said. After Sasson had defeated El Shehaby on Friday and the pair retook their places in front of the referee, the Egyptian backed away when Sasson bowed and approached him to shake hands. When called back by the referee to bow, El Shehaby gave a quick nod before walking off amid loud boos from the crowd . El Shehaby, 32, had been reportedly pressured by fans on social media not to show up for the match with his Israeli opponent because it would shame Islam. Shortly after the bout’s conclusion Friday, el-Shehaby announced his retirement from competition. According to The Jerusalem Post’s sister publication Maariv, el-Shehaby was known in Egypt as the most fervently anti-Israel sportsmen competing at the 2016 Olympic games. Some commentators in Egypt have even suggested that el-Shehaby had lost on purpose to the Israeli as a silent protest against Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi who forced him to compete in the games. Sasson subsequently won the bronze medal Friday evening after defeating Alex Maxell Garcia Mendoza of Cuba in the men’s judo over-100 kilogram competition. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later congratulated Sasson Saturday on his Olympic bronze medal win and responded to the controversy. Speaking in a joint interview with Sasson on Channel 2, Netanyahu said that the incident showed that “alongside the good relations that are developing with countries in the region, there is still a long way to go in fighting the years of propaganda against us.” Netanyahu said that despite such instances, he would not give up and the “day would come,” when such displays of anti-Israel sentiment would be in the past. The prime minister praised Sasson’s behavior toward his Egyptian opponent. “He succeeded, he extended his hand, that is the beautiful Israel.”The win brought the Israeli delegation a second medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics. Female Judoka star Yarden Gerbi became the toast of Israel by claiming the country’s first Olympic medal in eight years when she took a bronze in the women’s under-63kg competition on Tuesday. *Allon Sinai contributed to this article.
