Kuwaiti watersports player Abdul Razzaq al-Baghli has pulled out of the Emirates International Motosurf Championship in Abu Dhabi after refusing to compete against an Israeli competitor.The championship commenced on Saturday in Abu Dhabi, with 34 competitors from around the world taking part.Al-Baghli confirmed his withdrawal from the water sports event in a video shared to social media on Sunday, citing his "direct interaction with a player from the Zionist entity".He proceeded by stating that his decision was consistent with Kuwait's objective of "persistent support for the Palestinian cause".
Kuwait, like Iran, uses a carrot and stick to force players from competing against Israelis.
Anyone who does compete will be blackballed from their sport (and, in Iran, possibly arrested.)
But, perhaps realizing that this makes them look really bad, Muslim foes of Israel have been praising the people who refuse to compete against Israel and turn them from cowards into heroes.
With al-Baghli, we see this:
Tariq al-Shaya, a member of Kuwati's Supreme Coordinating Committee for Anti-Zionism and Normalisation, declared that: "Al-Baghli's decision is a position that will be engraved in the records of history with gold letters."
This is similar to how Kuwait treated a 14 year old tennis player who refused to compete against an Israeli in a fake "tournament" that accepted every player who paid to enter. Billboards praising the teen were erected all over Kuwait. The media lied that the player actually refused to play the Israeli in a real tournament happening at the same time in Dubai.
There is a real risk in many sports that players who refuse to compete will be punished or banned. Kuwait wants to try to make up for that risk by romanticizing forfeit, by changing what is normally a shameful concept into a heroic one.
In the end, as with everything else in the region, it all comes down to honor and shame. Kuwait is attempting to make something shameful appear honorable, so the next competitor will want to run away from competing with an Israeli next time.
Possibly the most ironic part came from this next quote:
Al-Shaya said in a statement that "expulsion of the Zionist occupation begins with international isolation, which Kuwaiti sportsmen have done in teams and individual games".
It isn't Israel that is being isolated - it is Kuwait. Israeli players are competing in Arab countries, against Arabs. Kuwait is the country that is isolating itself.
