Sunday, August 10, 2008

Question For A Sunday

Let's set the stage with this story.

An Iranian swimmer pulled out of the Olympic Games men's 100m breaststroke heats on Saturday, just minutes before he was due to compete against an Israeli rival.

Mohammad Alirezaei's lane one was empty when the field left the starting blocks while Israel's Tom Beeri, starting in lane seven, finished fourth.


Nothing new here, let's read on:

During the 2004 Athens Olympics, Iran's judo world champion Arash Miresmaeili, one of the country's prominent gold medal hopes, refused to compete against Ehud Vaks of Israel in the first round out of solidarity for the Palestinian cause.

Miresmaeili, twice a winner of the flyweight world title, still received a 5,000-dollar award the Iranian National Olympic Committee had promised to medal winners and he was hailed by former President Mohammad Khatami for his stance.


Now, the question becomes this:

Did the Iranian athlete pull out because of his deep sincere belief in the Palestinian cause or was he merely afraid to place behind the Israeli athlete, knowing the retribution he would face when he returned home?



6 comments:

Anonymous said...

He was probably visited by the Zealot Police and offered a deal he could not possibly refuse. If there was any chance at all that he'd lose the match, withdrawal would be the better decision IF he values his life once back in Iran. This is the stuff of novels, eh?

Anonymous said...

This is not new stuff. It is very simple. The Iranians pulled out of the various competitions because they hate the Jews, want them wiped off the face of the earth and refuse to be any where near them for fear of being soiled. Nothing to do with winning or losing here.

And the Western world is now giving them access to the atomic bomb by their constant moving back compliance deadlines.

LA Sunset said...

//This is the stuff of novels, eh?//

I thought it had already been written. "The Satanic Verses" got Rushdie a death fatwa, as I recall.

LA Sunset said...

//And the Western world is now giving them access to the atomic bomb by their constant moving back compliance deadlines.//

The world will regret its complacency sooner than they realize.

Greg said...

The Iranian athelete could easily have contracted Jew Cooties, which thrive in the pool environment. They can quickly latch onto the crotch area, travel up the anus, and infect other swimmers before they know it. Next think they know, they're growing a hook nose and fighting the urge to cheat people out of their money.

I think we should cut him some slack....

Anonymous said...

Greg.

ROTFLMAO.

Lest we forget that once the Cooties contracted, the person infected cannot stop saying.

"What's in it for me?"