NEW YORK, May 27, 2015 -- The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) condemns the shameful treatment and threats that Moroccan authorities and spectators meted out this past weekend to the Israeli judo team at the World Masters Judo Tournament in Rabat, Morocco, a qualifying event for the 2016 Olympic Games to be held in Rio de Janeiro.
When the seven-member Israeli judo team reached the airport in Morocco, Moroccan authorities confiscated the team's passports, kept the team in a room with no chairs, food or water for almost nine hours, and falsely blamed the delay on lack of visas and then changed the story to falsely claiming that a gun was found in the luggage of one of the Israeli athletes. Moroccan authorities only finally released the Israeli team from captivity after the president of the International Judo Federation's executive committee threatened to cancel the competition if the Israeli team was not released.
At the judo event, the Israeli flag was missing and the Israeli athletes were not listed on the tournament website. Worse still, spectators waved Palestinian flags and threatened the Israeli athletes whenever they appeared, screaming at the Israeli judokas: "We're going to kill you."
ZOA President Morton Klein stated: "In light of Morocco's shameful treatment of Israel's athletes, the International Judo Federation and International Olympic Committee should consider barring Morocco from hosting future international sports events."
The Moroccan treatment of Israel's judo team violates the International Olympic Committee (IOC)'s most basic non-discrimination principles and the spirit of friendship that should permeate sporting events. The IOC's Fundamental Principles of Olympism in the Olympic Charter declares:
"4. The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play. . . . ."
"6. The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Olympic Charter shall be secured without discrimination of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status."
The sports arena must be a place where Jewish and Israeli athletes are not subjected to threats, ill-treatment and discrimination.
This article was published by ZOA and may be found here. | 
Oh SNAP right when the PLO thought they were getting the Jews kicked out of FIFA - a dozen of their execs get arrested on dozens of Federal charges.
ReplyDeleteTrudy,
Deleteyou're right.
FIFA are one of the most corrupt organisations on the planet.
I have rarely seen so much positive coverage of the United States in the British media. Everyone is thrilled that finally the ghastly FIFA executives are going to be brought to book. And that their vice- like grip over football will end.
Having said that, there's every reason to believe that the new brooms, whenever they come in, will probably support the Palestinian cause and act accordingly.
Love it!!!!! Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!
DeleteUnfortunately, the FIFA executives who were arrested have no connection to those trying to do in Israel. In a just world, the PA would be thrown out of FIFA for politicizing the sport so brazenly, but ...
DeleteMike,
ReplyDeleteFrom Nick Cohen's " What's Left?" :
If Islamism and Baathism were the heirs of fascism, Egypt and the milder authoritarian regimes that used antisemitism had the same interest as the tsars in keeping the hatred burning. The Moroccan Foreign Minister, Mohamed Benaissa, was blunter than most of his colleagues when he stated that governments in the region cannot ' carry out reforms' without ' putting an end to the Palestinian tragedy and to the war waged against the Palestinian people'. Why not?
Did the plight of the Palestinians so enrage Moroccans that they would reject any moves towards democracy by their government? Didn't they want freedom for the Palestinians and freedom for themselves ?
This method of using antisemitism as a scapegoat to give to your own population so as to avoid political and social reform, is as old as the hills. Think Tsarist Russia.
Nothing will stop it. It's the easiest option.
And, there is no voice from the west, Europe, America, to counter it.
These people have been taught to think and behave like this. It hasn't happened by accident. It serves a purpose.
That's right, Kate.
DeleteAnti-Semitism is not merely prejudice, it is political.
Hey, I've read my Ruth Wisse!
;o)
Mike,
DeleteBecause you've read Ruth Wisse, you know that anti-Semitism is about much more than Jews, which means that what is happening is about more than Israel. In fact, and correct me if I am wrong, but I believe she says that it's not even primarily about Jews. The liberal west is under threat.
The erosion of freedom on college campuses, for example, began well before any intifadas and before even anti-Israel sickness was the main political cause on campuses. What I'm saying is that the anti-Zionist movement, laughably called pro-Palestinian, is a symptom of rot.
Me 2.
DeleteBut I don't think this is solely to do with Muslims.
DeleteMike,
DeleteWould you read the link to Brendan O'Neill's' blog that I posted below.
I really think that it is extremely important.
And covers something that is not usually discussed. Something vital.
Yes. But importantly, that's why there is no answer to it. It serves such a useful purpose that there can be no conceivable reason for it to be discarded.
ReplyDeleteAnd with more globalisation, more countries, even if not antisemitic themselves, will have to fall in line on Israel / Palestine to be acceptable to their new peer groups. Already are doing so.
There's an interesting article in Tablet magazine today that goes into that.
Sorry, I don't have the link right now.
But it's easy to look up.
It's looking very, very bad. All round.
Sinister.
Really!
What much of the Left thinks of the Jews in the Middle East:
ReplyDelete"Yes, by all means. When all of Palestine has been (1+ / 0-)
converted into a gigantic walled prison with all points of entry controlled by Israel, with access to food and water limited to somewhere between starvation and subsistence and with assassination via helicopter gunships or airstrikes by an occupying power a constant threat, let's shine a light on the bad behavior of some of the inmates of this massive prison. Because that's clearly the most important thing going on."
by Ralphdog on Wed May 27, 2015 at 11:35:15 AM PDT
Amnesty International: Hamas tortured and killed Palestinians
"Palestine" is a gigantic walled prison?
Where do they get this nonsense?
"all points of entry controlled by Israel"
Uhh, Jordan? Egypt?
"with access to food and water limited to somewhere between starvation and subsistence"
They just make shit up in order to demean and denigrate and create hatred for Jews.
The fact of the matter is that Arabs in both Gaza and Judea and Samaria have a quality of life comparable, if not generally superior to, Arabs within Arab dominated countries.
"assassination via helicopter gunships or airstrikes by an occupying power a constant threat"
I have to say, those are some kind-of evil Jews. What he should have said, if he really wanted to bring the point home, is "assassination of children via helicopter gunships or airstrikes..."
We all know how those Jews love to kill children.
This is the kind of thing that we get from the progressive-left and, yet, they still insist that we have a moral imperative to support them and their political party.
The arrogance and injustice of it is simply unbelievable.
Yes. They have by their actions and inactions " green- lighted" this all around the world.
DeleteWhen the world sees America will no longer comfortably support and protect Israel, all bets are off.
I'm totally pessimistic. This can only get worse.
Yes. However, it's easier to be brave in a country like America.
DeleteYou are probably right about Europe.
But many of us, even if we wanted to, couldn't gain entry to the US or Australia.
And, as I said, if Tony Abbott loses the next election - entirely possible - things in Australia will change. The Australian left are seriously unpleasant on these issues.Seriously unpleasant.
Not many options, really.
Progressives never really cared for Jews. Now with the number of muslims in the US rapidly rising they don't have to pretend anymore. 12 Democrat senators signed a petition to admit 65K Syrian refugees. Within 10 years we'll have places in this country where you'll get killed for being a Jew (think Ramallah).
DeleteIt sounds like Ralphdog (what does that choice of moniker say about Ralph?)...
DeleteI'll start again: It sounds like Ralphdog's mind has been converted into a gigantic walled prison with all points of entry controlled by "Israel."
k,
DeleteHere's part of the reason why Europe is not good for Jews:
http://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-embassy-slams-outrageous-dutch-textbook/
k,
DeleteAnd do remember to read the BTL comments, such as this gem from "Jet Maier:"
"No, it seems to be a constant that Israel thinks they control what the rest of the world does. Lefties don't hate Jews. They just refuse to submit to Jewish enslavement."
Jeff,
DeleteI remember this blog from Brendan O' Neill in the Telegraph. It was in their blog section ( they don't do blogs anymore) in July 2014.
It is really helpful, I think, as a shorthand look at what is happening.
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/brendanoneill2/100281417/is-the-left-anti-semitic-sadly-it-is-heading-that-way/
If there are any problems with the link, go to telegraph blogs archive, and search : Brendan O' Neill - 2014, July.
Be interested to know what you think.
What's. Interesting about his thesis is that it is much more than about Israel, or muslim antisemitism. It is about a much more general, ' structural ' way of thinking that has become commonplace on the left. It helps to explain the kind of thinking and language that is pervading public discourse.
DeleteAnd why it is so dangerous.
I do like Brendan O'Neill's observations of anti-Semitic, anti-Israel sickness. This article was no exception. He first posits that the "progressive" left is heading toward anti-Semitism and then goes on convincingly to show that in many ways it is already there, whether or not they are in denial or just not willing to admit it.
DeleteHere's one for you concerning where many of their ideas come from:
http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/blog/michael-j-totten/noam-chomsky-last-totalitarian
Tell me what you think.
Jeff,
DeleteThat's a terrific piece.
I'm a big fan of worldaffairsjournal but hadn't gone that far back in their archive.
I don't think the appalling nature of Chomsky's influence can be overstated.
It is like a cancer that has invaded the political, cultural landscape.
Impossible at this point to know how that can be countered. Or if.
Am now going to try and get hold of the book that article was based on.
Thanks!
And yes, I, too, have a lot of time for Brendan O'Neill. He is one of very few who speaks up. And always interestingly.
I'm presuming you follow him at Spiked online. They tend to be interesting on a lot of subjects. Controversial sometimes, but interesting.
All of you might want to check out the latest installment on mistakes made by Israel-advocates over at IsraellyCool (http://www.israellycool.com/2015/05/26/the-biggest-mistakes-pro-israel-advocates-make-6-how-to-win-friends-in-order-to-influence-people/ ). Basically, what the article is getting across is that pro-Israel types have largely ignored the major progressive causes with the result that those causes were as hospitable to the Palestinians' sophistry as an antibiotic sterilized gut is to C. Difficile (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clostridium_difficile_colitis ). Their buying in to the Palestinians' sophistry is not an indication of anything inherent in these movements, rather it is a result of their only hearing one side of the story because the other side didn't show up.
DeleteSar Shalom,
Deletethe other side - our side - did not have to show up because we were already there to begin with.
I don't know about you, but I definitely told many people on the Left, both on-line and in the real world, that if the movement continued to accept anti-Semitic anti-Zionists as a part of the general coalition that they are going to lose the Jews.
This is clearly what is happening, although less so in the US, apparently.
Pro-Israel types did not, from what I can tell, start off by ignoring progressive causes.
It is the progressives, themselves, who are driving us away from those causes.
You might want to contact IsraellyCool about that.
DeleteGoing deeper into the matter, it is true that a large share of the membership in the progressive movement is Jewish and at least some of those, such as yourself, are vocal supporters of Israel. The question is what percentage of Jews involved in the Left are supporters of Israel and what percentage are in the mold of Jeremy Ben Ami?
Left out New Zealand's John Key, also a conservative.
ReplyDeleteSar Shalom,
ReplyDeleteI'd be very interested to read that but I only have a mobile ( cell) phone internet connection, and that site has never properly worked on it. If anyone could be bothered to précis that piece, that would be brilliant.
Oh look - It's the Jews fault
ReplyDeletehttp://www.timesofisrael.com/indicted-fifa-official-warner-blamed-zionism-for-undoing-in-2011/
Former FIFA vice president Jack Warner, arrested in Trinidad and Tobago on Wednesday on bribery charges as part of a massive bust of top soccer officials, previously blamed “Zionism” for a bribery scandal which saw him forced from the world soccer body in 2011.
The EU banned Israel from participating in events in the EU for the Jewish National Fund; which itself is Israeli. The EU will not be happy until every last Jew on earth is dead. Period.
ReplyDelete