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Israeli
ping pong player waits for his Saudi opponent in the first round
of the at the championships
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By
Hadi Yamid, IOL Paris Correspondent
PARIS,
May 21 (IslamOnline.net) - A Player from Yemen and another from Saudi
Arabia refused to play against an Israeli competitor in the table tennis
world championship now held in France in protest of the Israeli
aggressions against the Palestinians.
“The
Israeli player appears with sport wear, but he will never hesitate to
take them off, wears his military suit and directs his gun at
Palestinian children upon coming back home,” said Yemeni Hani
al-Hamedi, explaining the cause of his boycott of the match before Gay
Elensky.
“When
I knew Elensky is of an Israeli nationality, I quit the table without
hesitation, despite organizers’ assurances that he is French,”
Hamedi told IslamOnline.net on Wednesday, May 21.
He
said that he could not compete before a Player whose nationals “commit
daily aggressions against innocent Palestinians, killing children and
women.”
In
the first round of the men’s single in the championship, the Israeli
player waited for his Saudi opponent Nabil al-Maghawi of Saudi Arabia,
but the latter did not even turn up at the game.
Elensky,
19, told IOL that he felt disappointed as politics interfered to disrupt
a match supposedly meant to “get peoples and individuals closer, not
the opposite.”
He
lodged an official protest at the Arab pair’s decision to boycott
matches against him. Yoel Shoham, head of the Israeli delegation, called
for action to be taken.
Shoham
said he had encountered the same situation when he took part in the 1967
table tennis world championships in Prague.
Many
of Arabs are now seething with anger at Israel’s continued incursions
into the Palestinian-ruled areas, leaving many dead and injured. On
Wednesday, May 21, Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinians when they opened
fire on stone-throwers in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
The
Arab players’ boycott was discussed by the championship's jury panel
late Tuesday but a ruling was held over to give the missing players a
chance to give their side of events, Agence France-Presse (AFP)
reported.
Elensky,
as automatic winner of his group, went into the final qualifiers
play-off, losing in straight sets to Shu Arai from Japan.
"I
couldn't get into my rhythm as this was my first competitive match at
these championships. I'm not saying that was a reason for my defeat, but
it didn't help," said the Nantes-based player.
"These
were my first championships and all I wanted to do is play,"
Elensky added. "I'm disappointed, but I don't think it's the fault
of the players."
Noticeably,
female players of the Egyptian delegation showed up wearing hijab
(Islamic headscarf), at a time France saw a wide debate over a possible
legislation banning the wear in schools.
“We
are not used to see veiled players at table tennis matches. But it is as
interesting as demonstrative of how people stick to their traditions,”
said one referee at the championship.
Some
audience were skeptical, with one saying that after the government
enacts the law banning veils of schools, “ it should consider another
preventing it in stadiums.”
The
six-million-Muslims in the rigidly-secular France have been struggling
for more rights and acknowledgement of Islam.
