Malaysia stripped of hosting event after denying entry to disabled Israeli athletes
After doubling down on its refusal to allow Israeli athletes who are disabled to compete in the upcoming World Para Swimming Championships (Because, yes, Mossad has agents on the Para Olympic team!), Malaysia was stripped of hosting rights for the event. The International Paralympic Committee decided to move the games, set to take place this summer, from the Muslim-majority nation saying the organization strives for “inclusion, not exclusion.” Swimmers from over 70 countries are expected to compete in this qualifying event for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. But the openly anti-Semitic Malaysian President is using this to express his racist attitudes and fortunately the IPC is fighting back. “All World Championships must be open to all eligible athletes and nations to compete safely and free from discrimination,” IPC President Andrew Parsons said in a statement. “When a host country excludes athletes from a particular nation, for political reasons, then we have absolutely no alternative but to look for a new Championships host.”
Missing her hands, female Paralympic athlete swims.
Malaysia does not have diplomatic relations with Israel and its prime minister is known for his extremely anti-Semitic views. Mahathir Mohamad has called Jews “hook-nose” people with “an instinctive sense of money.” “It is my right to tell them they have been doing a lot of wrong things,” Mohamad said. Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah said it is the Jewish state that has “violated the Olympic spirit.” “For more than half a century, Israel had continued to disregard the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, while committing inhumane policies and practices that were in clear violation of international laws,” he added.
In truth, it is the Palestinian leadership that denies rights to their citizens—journalists have little free speech and political rivals can wind up in jail or, as we saw a few year ago, thrown off a roof. Recently a Palestinian man was given a life sentence for selling land to a Jew. Because the man has American citizenship as well, they plan to deport him. But if he did not possess a US passport, he would have spent the rest of his life in a Palestinian prison and you would have never known about it! Traditionally, Muslim-majority nations have refused entry visas to Israeli athletes for official international events. But in recent months, nations such as Dubai have welcomed Israeli competitors, including at recent judo and gymnastics tournaments.