OPINION | This article contains commentary that reflects the author's opinion.
Mohamed Abdalarasool, an olympic judo competitor from Sudan, didn’t show up to spar.
He decided not to compete against Israel’s Tohar Butbul.
This news comes as Algeria’s Fetih Nourine also withdrew from competition rather than have to face Israel’s Tohar Butbul.
Abdalarasool and his coach did not specify why the athlete failed to show up to his match, but it’s widely accepted that Abdalarasool and Nourine are anti-Semitic and allegedly disapprove of “Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.”
Butbul told media that he was more disappointed in himself for his seventh-place finish than he was in the athletes who withdrew over what appear to be anti-Semitic reasons.
“I came with a pure aim to win a medal, and it’s very hard for me to bear that I didn’t fulfill my own expectations,” he said.
“That was the goal I put into the whole of my career. It’s still too early for me to understand what happened. I wasn’t precise in executing my plan, but in judo sometimes there is a gap between how you plan and what is in reality.”
Fox News reports that this appears to be over “political reasons.”
More from Daily Wire:
“Algeria’s Fetih Nourine withdrew from the Olympics completely on Saturday after learning he would potentially face Butbul if he defeated Sudan’s Mohamed Abdalarasool. Nourine cited specifically Israel’s treatment of Palestinians as a reason for dropping out,” Fox reported. “The International Judo Federation (IJF) temporarily suspended Nourine and his coach Amar Benikhlef for violating the organization’s rules protecting the ‘neutrality of sport at the Olympic Games.’”
“Judo sport is based on a strong moral code, including respect and friendship, to foster solidarity and we will not tolerate any discrimination, as it goes against the core values and principles of our sport,” the IJF said in a statement.
TRENDING 👇 First Federal Agency Announces Vaccine Mandate
And so it begins… Veterans Affairs becomes the first federal agency to mandate the COVID vaccine, Fox News reports.
Health care personnel will be obligated to take the drug. Rueters says this impacts more than 100,000 health care workers.
Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough decided to make the COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory for all VA health care personnel. This includes physicians, dentists, nurses and others who work in patient-facing roles. The agency says this is a “necessary step” to keep the veterans it serves “safe.”
Employees have eight weeks to comply and must be fully vaccinated. McDonough said, “We’re mandating vaccines for Title 38 employees because it’s the best way to keep veterans safe, especially as the delta variant spreads across the country.”
“Whenever a veteran or a VA employee sets foot in a VA facility, they deserve to know that we have done everything in our power to protect them from COVID-19,” he continued. “With this mandate, we can once again make – and keep – that fundamental promise.”
