Jordanian kickboxing coaches Mohammed Saud and Ibrahim Saraqma pulled out of the ‘Development Seminar and Coaching Workshop’, underway in Bahrain, due to the Israeli participation in the event, Al Jazeera and other Arabic-speaking media reported on Saturday.
Saraqma, the Algerian coach for ‘full contact’ and kickboxing, communicated his decision through a Facebook post.
“I declare my decision to pull out from the international tournament for trainers underway in Bahrain because of the presence of a delegation from the Zionist entity with us in the room,” he wrote in reference to the Israeli delegation.
Saraqma added, “No to normalization.”
The Jordanian civil society organization “Itharak” – meaning “move” – which fights normalization between Jordan and Israel, commended the Jordanian coach Saud for his decision to boycott the event, tweeting:
“Coach Mohammed Saud is a new Arab champion whose name is added to the list of honorable Arab athletes who have taken such honorable stance in international platforms in solidarity with Palestine and in rejection of normalization with the (Israeli) occupation. Thank you coach Mohammed.”
المدرب محمد سعود، بطلٌ عربيٌ جديد، يدوّن اسمه في قائمة الشرف للرياضيين العرب، الذين يسطرون مواقف مشرفة في كل المحافل، تضامنًا مع فلسطين ورفضًا للتطبيع مع الاحتلال.
شكرًا كابتن محمد .. شكرًا يا نشمي pic.twitter.com/AFg5YCSE7e
— مقاطعة (@Boycott4Pal) March 18, 2022
These boycotts are not the first rejection of normalization with Israel. Prominent examples include decisions by Algerian and Sudanese judokas – Fethi Nourine and Mohamed Abdalrasool – to reject sparring with Israeli athletes during the Japan Olympics in July 2021.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
