Fight against Anti-Semitism on arena of international sports
Anti-Semitism is one of the worst forms of racism. Wikipedia defines anti-Semitism as hostility to, prejudice, or discrimination against Jews. Jon Purizhansky says that since Israel is a Jew amongst the nations, discrimination against Israel or its citizens is nothing else but the new form of anti-Semitism. Unfortunately, anti-Semitism often raises its ugly head in the arena of international sports. It’s most recent manifestation was when Malaysia announced that it would ban Israeli athletes from competing in the 2019 World Para-Swimming Championships to be held in Kuching, Sarawak, from July 29 to Aug 4.
Therefore, according to Jon Purizhansky, Israel’s fight for survival and dignity does not only take place on the battlefields, but also on the legal arena. In 2018, a group of American lawyers decided to take up the cause of representing Israel in the arena of international sports. The legal team included attorney Alan Dershowitz, former New York State Attorney-General Dennis Vacco, and a New York lawyer Jon Purizhansky. Their efforts followed multiple events in which Israeli athletes could not display the Israeli flag on their uniforms and the national anthem was not played when they won. A former Olympian and a current Member of the Israeli Knesset, Yoel Razvozov led the effort on the Israeli side. Razvozov passionately got involved and even sought advice from Efraim Barak, an attorney, who is an expert on sports and law and an arbitrator at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Razvozov also involved other Israeli and Swiss lawyers will take part in the efforts. Jon Purizhansky’s and Razvozov’s efforts were widely covered in mass media globally, including https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Petition-filed-to-force-Arab-states-to-show-Israeli-flag-at-sports-events-558284 and
https://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/news/2018/07/02/blj-legal-team-aims-to-shine-light-on.html and https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/sport/175392-180523-top-legal-team-seeks-to-end-israeli-discrimination-at-arab-sporting-events
The result was that Qatar allowed Israeli athletes to compete in Qatar under the Israeli flag (http://english.alarabiya.net/en/sports/2018/10/25/Qatar-hosts-Israeli-gymnastic-team-including-one-who-served-in-army.html); the United Arab Emirates stopped discriminating against Israeli judokas ( https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2018/9/4/uae-to-allow-israeli-athletes-to-compete-equally ); Israeli Minister of Sports Miri Regev visited Dubai and the UAE said that dialogue with Israel is a positive phenomenon ( https://www.timesofisrael.com/uae-minister-describes-dialogue-with-israel-as-a-positive-phenomenon/ )
Jon Purizhansky says that fighting anti-Semitism in the arena of international sports is not only an element in the global fight against anti-Semitism and racism but is also a step toward bringing peace to the Middle East. The flourishing relationship between Israel on one side and Saudi Arabi, the UAE, Oman, and Bahrain points to the fact that peace between Israel its neighbors is not only possible but is also practical and mutually advantageous
Originally Posted: https://jonpurizhansky.wordpress.com/2019/07/11/fight-against-anti-semitism-on-the-arena-of-international-sports/
