MarkMT 68 Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/sport/96639-151223-israel-pulls-out-of-windsurfing-competition-in-row-over-displaying-national-flag This is a very disappointing story... "The organizers of the competition in Malaysia stipulated that in order to participate in the competition the Israeli athletes would have to compete without an Israeli flag and without any symbols associated with the state of Israel on their clothing and surfboards as well as not playing the Israeli national anthem if any medals were won," Amir added. Amir said that the Malaysian demands were unacceptable and since the windsurfers did not receive their visas, Israel decided not to participate. "We condemn the unsportsmanlike conduct of the organizing committee of the competition," Amir said. "We will not accept being humiliated and we are looking into making a claim against the International Sailing Federation and the host country, in coordination with the Olympic Committee of Israel." I think this is appalling behavior on the part of the Malaysians - regardless of what you think about Israel, it's just not their job to be playing politics with these kids. It will be interesting to see how ISAF reacts. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kevin McCready 83 Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Sports boycotts are tough. Let's hope it doesn't lead to near civil war like it did here. And good luck to BDS. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Black Panther 1,586 Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 I don't think you can separate sport and politics these days. The boycott against apartheid SA had an impact, this might too. Similarly we have recently been subjected to JK fawning over the All Blacks. Nope, I think the two are inextricably mixed. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fish 0 Posted December 25, 2015 Share Posted December 25, 2015 I don't see what the problem is. It's not like the Malaysians are shooting / bombing / starving / or preventing the medical treatment of the Isrealies. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
smithy09 50 Posted December 25, 2015 Share Posted December 25, 2015 Are you guys kidding? This is total bullshit. This is a world championship. Malaysia are hosts only. They don't get to make the rules. there should be severe consequences for them playing these stupid pro Islamic anti-Semitic games.. Lets see if the ISAF will Pony up and kick them hard, or whether they will pussy out. If they banned Maoris/Africans/Japanese because they didn't like the colour of their skin, religion or some other rubbish there would be hell to pay. What is the difference here? I cannot believe them behaving like this. Third world bollocks.. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fish 0 Posted December 25, 2015 Share Posted December 25, 2015 The difference is you can't choose the colour of your skin, but you can choose how ruthlessly you oppress the Gazians. That's nothing about being anti Semitic. And ISAF will pussy out. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,235 Posted December 25, 2015 Share Posted December 25, 2015 I agree with Smithy. IMO this is a good reason to move the event away from Malaysia. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
smithy09 50 Posted December 26, 2015 Share Posted December 26, 2015 The difference is you can't choose the colour of your skin, but you can choose how ruthlessly you oppress the Gazians. That's nothing about being anti Semitic. And ISAF will pussy out. WTF has that got to do with the Malaysians? They have their own issues. Try being Malaysian Chinese or living in East Malaysia. They are complete rascists. The Malay-Islamic government is completely bigoted against anyone not Muslim. Don't like that? Try to oppose them? Then suddenly you get thrown in jail on trumped up sodomy charges. They are completely unbelievable, but to follow this brainless line of "anything with the star of David on it is evil" when we are talking about kids windsurfing... Well it's way beyond the pale, and they do not deserve to be part of the international sailing community. Ban them. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ScottiE 174 Posted December 28, 2015 Share Posted December 28, 2015 It had - then it fell back into the realm of professionalism - which then transcended to state funded which then transcended to . . . But hey - don't worry it only took us 1500 years to progress from professional state funded sport back to ametuar sport again! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
banaari 27 Posted December 28, 2015 Share Posted December 28, 2015 Go Malaysia; about bloody time _SOMEONE_ applied pressure somewhere. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MarkMT 68 Posted December 29, 2015 Author Share Posted December 29, 2015 A good statement put out today by US Sailing... ----- December 29, 2015Dear U.S. Sailors,This past week our sport was negatively affected by political actions taken by the Malaysian Sailing Association (MSA), a Member National Authority (MNA) of World Sailing (formerly ISAF). The net result was that the Israeli youth team had restrictions imposed upon it at the Youth Sailing World Championships that no other team had, creating an inferior condition for the Israeli competitors and preventing them from competing as equals on and off of the race course. The Israeli team elected not to compete because of the unequal conditions enforced upon them by the MSA.We denounce these policies and actions of the MSA that are in direct contradiction to our bylaws and the International Olympic Committee Code of Ethics, which state: There shall be no discrimination between the participants on the basis of race, gender, ethnic origin, religion, philosophical or political opinion, marital status or other grounds.” It is the responsibility of World Sailing to ensure that these conditions are met at all sanctioned international competitions. World Sailing has allowed the regatta to start, without imposing conditions on the MSA, to our knowledge.The Board of US Sailing provides the following as our opinion on the situation in Malaysia:We have three concerns. The first is for our sport. US Sailing believes that sailors of all nations are entitled to equal opportunity to compete. This core value of our sport appears to have been violated by the conduct of the MSA, who are managing this event under the authority of World Sailing. Many people have contacted us asking “how can World Sailing allow this to happen?” The fact is that World Sailing may have been as surprised as we were as to the action taken by the MSA because they relied on their vetting process to expose these potential problems. World Sailing has recently (as of last month) changed venues because of concerns about a MNA’s ability to remain apolitical, which we fully supported at the time of the decision.The problem is that many of the regatta venues were determined years ago, before current political agendas (and willingness to act on those agendas) of some MNAs were detectible (prior to the selection of the venue). World Sailing’s charter is to be inclusive and grow our sport, so they have tried very hard to offer significant regattas to MNAs in non-traditional areas. In the case of Malaysia, it obviously did not work.Has World Sailing reacted appropriately, once the situation developed? Unfortunately, as of this writing, we do not have the answer for that one. The delegates to World Sailing from the U.S. are working diligently to make our position known, which is: World Sailing must enforce its constitutional charter upon the Malaysian Sailing Authority and all MNAs hosting regattas, and that World Sailing must ensure that similar MNA breakdowns do not occur for every event on the World Sailing schedule (regattas, conferences, meetings, etc.).The next Youth World Sailing Championship regatta will be in Oman, followed by Israel in 2017. There is no doubt that a repeat of this breakdown would point to a systemic failure at World Sailing.Our second concern is for all athletes. US Sailing feels strongly that sports and politics should not mix, and that athletes should not be used for political gain. Therefore, we will not discourage any sailor on the US Sailing Youth World Championship Team from competing in the regatta. US Sailing Board members were victims of the 1980 Olympic boycott and their firsthand experience demonstrates that there is no place in sport for politics. Nothing changed in the world after the boycott of 1980, save more medals for the countries that attended, and none for the countries that did not. We must keep the politics on the front page of the paper and our competitions in the sports section.Our third concern is for regattas going forward, specifically the ones that our athletes will participate in and those we host in the U.S. World Sailing must ensure that similar MNA breakdowns will not occur for every scheduled event on the World Sailing schedule. Next month US Sailing will host Sailing World Cup Miami, and three World Championships this February in Clearwater. At both regatta venues US Sailing will ensure that athletes from all countries that qualify for the event compete on an even footing, in accordance with the IOC Code of Ethics, as stated above.We ask that all of our US Sailing members and volunteers support the leadership of World Sailing and our U.S. delegates thereto. This is a very difficult time for all of them as they deal with MNAs who refuse to be bound by the ethical standards that the rest of the world accepts and lives by. Further, we ask that we have strong support in January and February, when we welcome all sailors and fans to watch the regattas in Miami and Clearwater. Please support our U.S. teams and join us in welcoming all of the international competitors who have traveled to sail in our waters.From the US Sailing Board of Directors, Bruce J. BurtonPresident of US Sailing ----- Also a good write-up by Richard Gladwell with additional background info here: http://www.sail-world.com/Youth-Worlds---Organisers-in-hot-seat-after-Israel-sailors-excluded/141176 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MarkMT 68 Posted December 30, 2015 Author Share Posted December 30, 2015 And glad to see YNZ now taking a stand... https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/sport/other/yachting-nz-calls-for-stand-against-malaysian-government.html?autoPlay=4679574704001 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fish 0 Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 Last month Isreali army storm a Palestinian hospital, disguised in, amongst other things, as a pregnant women, hold hospital staff hostage and carry out an extra judicial killing. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/11/israeli-army-unit-storms-hospital-kills-palestinian-151112050130289.html Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fish 0 Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 Israeli officer: 'We will gas you until you die' Israeli border patrol officer threatens to kill all residents of Aida refugee camp if Palestinians keep throwing stones. October 2015 http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/10/israeli-forces-gas-die-151031140951304.html Are there any Palestinian kids racing at the Worlds in Langkawi? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fish 0 Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 In 49 days during July to August 2014, Isreal killed about 2,200 Palestinians in Gaza, including women and Children. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Israel–Gaza_conflict How many Palestinian kids are racing at the Worlds in Langkawi? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
erice 732 Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 no one is guilt free ban everyone close all borders put fingers in ears shout at everyone that'll teach'em Quote Link to post Share on other sites
marinheiro 352 Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 another view on Gaza http://legalinsurrection.com/2015/03/the-truths-of-the-gaza-war-revealed/ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ScottiE 174 Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 F**k really! We've descended to this nonsense here as well? Trying to set blame for that conflict is in fact the source of the conflict itself. You argue this atrocity last year - they'll argue that atrocity the decade before to which you argue another atrocity the century before that. I have no time and no desire to see this argument debated on a yachting website. Please desist or f##k off. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fish 0 Posted December 31, 2015 Share Posted December 31, 2015 F**k really! We've descended to this nonsense here as well? Trying to set blame for that conflict is in fact the source of the conflict itself. You argue this atrocity last year - they'll argue that atrocity the decade before to which you argue another atrocity the century before that. I have no time and no desire to see this argument debated on a yachting website. Please desist or f##k off. Stop whining about it affecting your world champs then. Looks like reality is making you feel uncomfortable, or is it the realisation that kids lives a more important than a yacht race? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Black Panther 1,586 Posted January 16, 2016 Share Posted January 16, 2016 Some interesting perspective from Reddit: Our beloved All Blacks were responsible for 28 countries boycotting the 1976 Olympics. What other shameful NZ history gets covered up? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1976_Summer_Olympics#Non-participating_National_Olympic_Committees Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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