Beirut hosts forum to honor athletes opposing normalization with Zionists

Fathi Nourin, an Algerian and world champion who pulled out of four different competitions after finding out he would compete with an Israeli competitor, was punished by the International Judo Federation which withdrew his Olympics accreditation, but he said that nothing is more significant than Palestine.

The athletes who were honored threw their matches in international and regional tournaments to protest the presence of Israeli players or teams.

Two chess players also had their share of a gold medal. So did 14-year-old Mauritanian Mohammad Abdelrahman.

The Global Campaign to Return to Palestine stressed that they wanted to launch this initiative to show that these athletes who paid a price, whether being dismissed from international tournaments or deprived of important medals and valuable prizes, have won people’s respect for their stance in defense of Palestine and the culture of resistance.

The GCRP, which is an umbrella organization for civil society associations that support the Palestinian cause, both in the Arab countries and the world, added that the three-day event would take place in “recognition of the heroic act of anti-normalization athletes, and with the participation of international personalities.”

These athletes say they decided to rescind an international competition and prize if it meant recognizing the Israeli occupation and apartheid regime, yet little they know that in so doing they became the champions for millions of hearts across the Arab and Muslim world.