Kuwaiti Athlete Pulls Out of Int’l Fencing Contests in Support for Palestinian Cause
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A Kuwaiti fencer from the 2023 Fédération Internationale d'Escrime (FIE) Senior World Cup contests to avoid facing an Israeli contestant over support for the Palestinian cause and refusal of normalization with the Tel Aviv regime.
Abdulaziz Alshatti pulled out of the competitions in Istanbul, Turkey, as soon as he found out he was scheduled to take on an Israeli competitor.
“I withdrew from the tournament because of the presence of a representative from the Zionist entity in the same group,” the 32-year-old athlete wrote in an Arabic-language post published on his Instagram page.
He added, “My trust in God is great, and goodness is coming with His permission. His generosity is not delayed, but rather comes at the right time.”
Back in November 2018, Alshatti quit the World Fencing Championship in Switzerland over a draw that set him on course for a match-up against an Israeli opponent.
Last September, 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.
In May 2021, Kuwait’s National Assembly unanimously approved bills that outlaw any deals or normalization of ties with the Tel Aviv regime.
On August 18, 2020, 37 Kuwaiti lawmakers called on their government to reject a normalization deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Anti-Israeli sentiments run high in Kuwait. A poll conducted in 2019 by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, an American think tank, showed that 85 percent of Kuwaitis oppose normalizing ties with Israel.
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.
