Name: Arash Miresmaeili Age: Irrelevant Nationality: Iranian Claim to fame: Gave up a chance to win the Olympic gold to show solidarity with the Palestinians
If all the peace processes and world organizations could not settle the Palestinian issue, how could a lone man in the Olympic arena do it? Yet, Iran’s world judo champion, Arash Miresmaeili wasn’t deterred and he tried to do his own bit for the Palestinian cause — he forfeited a sure-fire chance for Olympic glory by refusing to compete against his Israeli opponent and registering his protest in the process. All this from one lone man while organizations like the UNO look the other way as Israel does as it pleases in the Middle East.
Miresmaeili’s boycott came on the heels of an already controversy dogged Olympics. Even before the flame had been lit, two of Greece’s sporting icons, Olympic 200 meters champion Kostadinos Kenteris and his training partner, Ekaterini Thanou were excluded from the Greek Olympic team after the two controversially missed their doping tests.
But Miremaeili became the first sportsman to make a personal political statement in this year’s Olympics. And this has already made him a hero in his home country,
The two-time world champion who was favoured to win Iran’s first Olympic judo medal is probably in line to receive a $115,000 cash prize, set aside by Iranian authorities for gold medal winners. Adding fuel to the burning controversy, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, was quoted as saying Miresmaeili’s action “will be recorded in the history of Iranian glories.” And that the judoka was “in the hearts of all Iranians and all lovers of freedom throughout the globe ... Iran considers Miresmaeili as the champion of the 2004 Olympic Games.”
Since its 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran has refused to recognize Israel’s right to exist and has allied itself to the Palestinian cause. It is also not the first time that Iranian judokas have declined to fight against Israeli opponents. At the 2001 world championships, Mahed Malekmohammdi refused to face Yoel Razvozov while Asian champion Masoud Haji Akhoundzade also pulled out of a planned clash with Israeli lightweight Zvi Shafran.
However, this is also not the first time that Olympics have faced such controversy. At the 1968 Olympics, in Mexico City, American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos won the gold and bronze medals in the men’s 200m. During the medal ceremony they mounted the podium barefooted and as The Star Spangled Banner was being played, they bowed their heads and both held up a clenched hand clad in a black glove. Their non-violent protest was simply a gesture in support of the Black Power and the ongoing civil rights movement. But back home, in the US, it caused a big uproar.
At the same games, Czech champion gymnast Vera Caslavska had to share the gold medal in the floor exercises with the Soviet Union’s Larissa Petrik. During the medal ceremony, after first listening to the Czech anthem, Caslavska deliberately turned away and bowed her head during the anthem of her opponent. This was her protest against the then USSR’s military intervention in Czechslovakia that summer.
While Miresmaeili’s action will not give Palestinians their rights, it will certainly reinforce their belief that they are right.
If all the peace processes and world organizations could not settle the Palestinian issue, how could a lone man in the Olympic arena do it? Yet, Iran’s world judo champion, Arash Miresmaeili wasn’t deterred and he tried to do his own bit for the Palestinian cause — he forfeited a sure-fire chance for Olympic glory by refusing to compete against his Israeli opponent and registering his protest in the process. All this from one lone man while organizations like the UNO look the other way as Israel does as it pleases in the Middle East.
