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Photo: Oren Aharoni
El Shehaby, in blue, refusing Sasson's hand
Photo: Oren Aharoni
Smadar Perry

A triple defeat

Op-ed: Not only was Islam El Shehaby beaten by the 'Zionist enemy' in judo, he also came under fire for shaming his president and his country by refusing to shake Israeli Ori Sasson's hand after the match. A third blow awaits him when he returns home.

Islam El Shehaby suffered a triple defeat: From the "Zionist enemy's" judoka, from those in the comments section that did not like what they saw on the mat, and his final defeat awaits him at home. Egypt's security forces are going to question him about the nature of his ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and about why he insisted on shaming President al-Sisi in front of the entire world.

 

 

The relations between the Presidential Palace in Cairo and the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, Israel's intelligence community and the IDF, have never prospered as they have during al-Sisi's regime.

 

The help provided by Israel to Egypt does not only extend into the Sinai Peninsula, but also to Capitol Hill and to the International Monetary Fund. As long as he has Israel's ear, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has no problem shaking Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hand and dining at his table in Jerusalem.

 

Egyptian Islam El Shehaby, in blue, refusing to shake Ori Sasson's hand (Photo: AP)
Egyptian Islam El Shehaby, in blue, refusing to shake Ori Sasson's hand (Photo: AP)
 

The two countries help each other in international organizations, while operations vis-à-vis the Gaza Strip are conducted with almost complete transparency. Other fields of cooperation cannot be publicized due to their sensitive nature.

 

But the peace prevailing on the leadership level did not make its way down to the Egyptian street, to intellectual circles and, more importantly, to Egypt's unions. Those caught in the act of "normalization with the Zionist enemy," will be subjected to scrutiny by their peers and find themselves placed on "a social trial." They will even risk losing their livelihood.

 

Israeli Ori Sasson defeating Egyptian Islam El Shehaby (Photo: Oren Aharoni) (Photo: Oren Aharoni)
Israeli Ori Sasson defeating Egyptian Islam El Shehaby (Photo: Oren Aharoni)

 

We should not judge El Shehaby by the length of his beard. All he wanted was to return home in peace, without angering his union. It is important to note that the Egyptian sports minister and the heads of Cairo's delegation to Rio anticipated the danger and warned him to "play by the rules."

 

I had a hard time finding any support for him in the Egyptian media. As the headlines spoke of "the defeat," the scores of Egyptian commentators rebuked El Shehaby for the double blow to Egyptian honor. He took a serious beating and added insult to injury at the wrong time.

 

I'd give a lot to be able to listen in on Netanyahu's next phone call to al-Sisi, with whom he often speaks. Netanyahu will probably remind the Egyptian president that the peace agreement between the two nations was signed 40 years ago, and yet we still see proof that there is no education for peace on the Egyptian side.

 


פרסום ראשון: 08.14.16, 11:44
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