Is There Normalization in Sports? And Does Withdrawing Against Israeli Athletes Count as a Victory for the Cause?

Written by Dr. Hamada Alantably

Today, I will speak to you about an issue or phenomenon that may not please many, and for which I might even be attacked. Recently, the phenomenon of Arab athletes withdrawing from facing Israeli players—or refusing to shake hands with them if they decide to play the match—has spread widely. This is often treated as a heroic triumph on social media, shared by followers with immense pride as if we had won a military war or liberated occupied land.

The important question here is: Is this behavior correct? And is this sportsmanship? I recently addressed this topic when a friend asked me about a match between the Egyptian and Israeli teams at the FIBA 3×3 U18 World Cup, where the Egyptian players refrained from shaking hands with the Israeli players after winning the match, asking whether this behavior was right or wrong.

Before answering this question, let us think about the matter calmly. Logic and reason dictate that Arab athletes withdrawing against Israeli players gives the opponents the advantage and makes them superior to us. Furthermore, if this athlete were a soldier in military service and encountered an enemy soldier on the battlefield, would he turn around and run away, saying, “This is a soldier from the Zionist entity, and I will not fight him”? If your answer is that he should run away and abandon the battlefield, then his withdrawal from the sports match is correct behavior.

Now let us look at the second part of the phenomenon: an athlete plays the match and wins or loses—because in sports, winning and losing are natural—and then refuses to shake hands with the Israeli player simply because he represents the Zionist entity and, as an Arab, the athlete feels he shouldn’t touch him. Is this sportsmanship? Is this our morality as Arabs? Moreover, if this player were part of another national team but of Israeli origin, would you refuse to shake him? We all know there are many prominent players who are Jewish or openly support the Zionist entity, yet we cheer for them and celebrate them completely naturally (Lionel Messi is a prime example).

After all this narrative and the many questions I have raised, I believe our real problem is “fake heroism”—social media heroism, rather than true victory in sports arenas. We must raise our young athletes to stand before their competitors regardless of their nationalities, play with honor, win or lose because it is just a sport, and upon winning or losing, shake the opponent’s hand and say, “Congratulations” or “Hard luck.”

Sports are about ethics, and there is no room for hollow, paper-thin victories and social media triumphs. We must teach them that we do not run away from our opponent or withdraw, leaving them victorious while we walk away as defeated quitters. Let us raise real champions—a champion who stands before an Israeli athlete, defeats him honorably, walks up to him afterward, smiles in his face, shakes his hand, and says, “I am the best, I am the winner, better luck next time.” That is when you truly defeat him and burn his spirits, far better than these unfortunate social media championships. May God guide us all to what is right.

By Dr. Hamada Alantably