The fearsome Israelis strike again.
At the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam judo tournament, Israeli judoka Shir Rishoni won her match against her Moroccan opponent, Aziza Chakir, but when Rishoni approached Chakir to offer the typical handshake after the match, Chakir reacted with a hilarious display of moral cowardice: she ran away.
Backward, no less.
Israeli judo competitors have been snubbed not only by their opponents, who refuse to acknowledge their victories, but also by the International Judo Federation itself, which refused to fly the Israel flag when Israeli athletes won any medal, and refused to play the Israeli national anthem when Israeli judo champion Tal Flicker won the gold medal, prompting him to sing the Israel national anthem while the theme of the International Judo Federation was played.
At the 2015 Judo Grand Slam competition in Abu Dhabi, Israeli judokas donned uniforms bearing the International Judo Federation insignia instead of the Israeli flag or anything suggesting their Israeli nationality. After 40 years of boycotting Israel, a judoka from Algeria agreed to face Rishoni after she was notified that Rishoni was not representing Israel but rather the International Judo Federation.