Syrian swimmer withdraws from world championships to avoid facing Israeli rival
In a show of solidarity with Palestinians and rejection of normalization with the Tel Aviv regime, Syrian swimmer Hammam Hashim Mualla has pulled out of the 2023 World Aquatics Masters Championships in Japan to avoid facing an Israeli opponent.
Mualla was set to participate in the men’s 200-meter butterfly contests of the international tournament in Fukuoka city, which sits on the northern shore of Japan’s Kyushu Island.
However, he withdrew from the competitions as soon as he found out he was scheduled to compete in the event with an Israeli rival in attendance.
In recent years, an increasing number of athletes from Arab and Muslim countries have avoided facing Israeli opponents in international competitions in support of the Palestinian cause.
They view the participation of Israeli athletes in sports events as a scheme to help the Tel Aviv regime gradually normalize its relations with Muslim and Arab nations despite its brutal occupation of Palestine and its relentless crimes against Palestinians.
Last May, Kuwaiti fencer Abdulaziz Alshatti withdrew from the 2023 Fédération Internationale d’Escrime (FIE) Senior World Cup contests in Turkey to avoid taking on an Israeli contestant.
“I withdrew from the tournament because of the presence of a representative from the Zionist entity in the same group,” Alshatti wrote in an Arabic-language post published on his Instagram page at the time.
Back in September last year, Kuwaiti karate fighter Mohammad al-Otaibi withdrew from the 2022 Karate 1-Premier League contests in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku not to face an Israeli contestant.
Otaibi was set to participate in the male kumite 60-kilogram division of the international tournament. He, however, pulled out of the competitions as soon as he found out he was scheduled to take on Israeli competitor Ronen Gehtbarg.
