Anti-Semitism reared it’s ugly head during the 2016 Rio Olympics on more than one occasion. In each instance, an athlete from a Muslim nation recoiled from their Jewish opponents, an ugly reminder that hatred against Israel still exists. Below are six times Jew-hatred scarred the Olympic Games…. and you won’t believe #6.
1. Egyptian fighter refused to shake his Israeli opponent’s hand
Egyptian fighter Islam el-Shehaby lost a judo match to Israeli opponent Or Sasson. And in customary fashion after the match, Sasson attempted to shake hands with el-Shehaby. This time, el-Shehaby refused and left the mat. The crowd jeered the breach of etiquette, and the referee demanded the Egyptian fighter return to either shake hands or bow. Again, he refused with only a nod and walked away.
Before the games, the fighter was warned by Egyptian media not to partake in the match:
“My son watch out, don’t be fooled or fool yourself thinking you will play with the Israeli athlete to defeat him and make Egypt happy… Egypt will cry; Egypt will be sad and you will be seen as a traitor and a normalizer in the eyes of your people.”
Click CONTINUE to see the other awkward and shameful moments so far: