Iranian given $125,000 for NOT fighting Israeli

[Cowperson]

Iran has paid a judo champion who avoided an Olympic match against an Israeli the same $125,000 prize money it awarded its gold medal winners, the official Islamic Republic News Agency said Wednesday.

Though Arash Miresmaeli "did not get a gold medal, he earned eternal honor by his refusal," Mahmood Ahmadi Nejad, Tehran's conservative mayor, said, according to IRNA.

The funny part is this - he got disqualified for being overweight anyway. He wouldn't have had the match in the first place.

Is this an example of institutionalizing racial or ethnic hatred?

http://www.newsday.com/sports/olympics/ny-...mpics-headlines

Cowperson

[Agamemnon]

Did he know he was going to fight the Israeli, and then not worry about his weight? If he knew about the match w/ enough time in advance, he may have just let himself go knowing he wouldn't have to fight. If he didn't know about it ahead of time, I'm sure the outcome would've been the same regardless of his weight. He wouldn't have fought the Israeli.

[Cowperson]

Originally posted by Agamemnon@Sep 14 2004, 07:59 PM
Did he know he was going to fight the Israeli, and then not worry about his weight? If he knew about the match w/ enough time in advance, he may have just let himself go knowing he wouldn't have to fight. If he didn't know about it ahead of time, I'm sure the outcome would've been the same regardless of his weight. He wouldn't have fought the Israeli.

The story implies he knew he was fighting an Israeli and became a national hero because he refused to fight him.

Cowperson

[CaptainCrunch]

This goes back to what we were discussing a few days ago, regarding things to admire from different cultures and religions etc.

I know that a lot of amateur wrestlers go crazy trying to meet this weight requirements right up until the last few minutes before they weigh in.

This is just another smack in the face to a region that makes the rest of the world wonder if it might be too hot for people to occupy.

Silly, silly, Silly

[RougeUnderoos]

Wow, $125 grand.

Never before has one man gained so much by gaining so little.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally posted by RougeUnderoos@Sep 14 2004, 08:19 PM
Wow, $125 grand.

Never before has one man gained so much by gaining so little.

Hmm not sure about that statement when your talking about a guy not making his weight limit.

Maybe

Never has one man gained so much for gaining so much

[RougeUnderoos]

Yeah but he probably only had to gain a couple pounds to go over.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally posted by RougeUnderoos@Sep 14 2004, 08:38 PM
Yeah but he probably only had to gain a couple pounds to go over.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Antisemitism seems to be largely accepted around the world still.

It's disturbing and I think it's a big part of why the USA is hated, because we support Israel's right to their land.

You can't support Jews and be popular.

Oh well.

[???]

not to side track the topic but can anyone explain the conflict in isreal? from what i understand the U.N created isreal after WW2, palestine was not a country,but more of a region. the jewish "settlers" are just as wacky as hamas. all and all the world just said this is now isreal, and they didnt expect the palastineins to get kinda mad? i dont bother following these kind of things anymore, so can anyone give me a short run down of the history of the area. just a bit curious, but not intrested enough to read a whole book on the subject.

thanks if anybody bothers to respond.

[Lurch]

Antisemitism seems to be largely accepted around the world still.

It's disturbing and I think it's a big part of why the USA is hated, because we support Israel's right to their land.

You can't support Jews and be popular.

Oh well.

I constantly find myself running into a similar problem, in that my good looks, brilliance, moral superiority and athletic excellence constantly leave my lessers with unjustified dislike for me. No matter how many times I point these things out to them, they just don't seem to get it. Then, when I beat them senseless, for their own good of course, they still don't get the picture.

Oh well, I guess when you are perfect you can't expect to be popular.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Not sure what your point is Lurch.

Are you agreeing that antisemitism is accepted throughout much of the world....because what you wrote has zero to do with what I said.

That usually occurs when there is no argument.

[Looger]

antisemitism in the mideast is a thorny issue, i think it mostly has to do with the way israel was created and the rhetoric that flew around by the zionists and arab leaders at the time.

just think, the arab and muslim world was finally gaining some independence at the end of the second world war, after broken promises and severe backstabs by the west, and then a whole bunch of western-backed zionists buy, beg, and steal land in palestine. must have really truly seemed like a crusade.

the first leaders of israel held out the olive branch to their neighbours, but the zionist baggage and money they brought with them was ugly with a caputal U. like talmud-style "put them all to the sword" rhetoric.

not all israelis felt this way, in fact probably very few - the jewish nation had been through some trouble in recent times but they just wanted to go home.

many arab leaders seized the opportunity to gain power by advocating hatred, kind of an anti-zionism movement. a big player in this was the grand-mufti of jerusalem.

the stage was set right there 1945-1948, for a struggle between palestinian jews and palestinian arabs. this single and (at the time) relatively minor dispute had been growing a bit since the late-nineteenth century but was not insurmountable.

the surrounding arab nations smelled the chance to get back at the west a bit, and to subjugate their poor palestinian arab cousins ( a recurring theme...), by attacking israel. they missed their chance to destroy it simply because they were too busy stabbing each other in the back, like the king of jordan actually invading syria at this exact time (no kidding).

honestly i just can't imagine a worse start for israel, it has coloured relations with its neighbours since, not helped by the suez crisis and the organized slaughter of over 2000 palestinians by israeli-supervised phalange militiamen.

i can understand the anti-semitism, based mostly on the forced opinion the islamic world has of israel, to this day syrian textbooks for children talk of how evil jews are.

sadly it is not looking to get better any time soon.

[Agamemnon]

Originally posted by Lurch@Sep 14 2004, 11:06 PM
I constantly find myself running into a similar problem, in that my good looks, brilliance, moral superiority and athletic excellence constantly leave my lessers with unjustified dislike for me. No matter how many times I point these things out to them, they just don't seem to get it. Then, when I beat them senseless, for their own good of course, they still don't get the picture.

Oh well, I guess when you are perfect you can't expect to be popular.

That is freaking hilarious

[Lurch]

Not sure what your point is Lurch.

Are you agreeing that antisemitism is accepted throughout much of the world....because what you wrote has zero to do with what I said.

No, mostly I was poking fun at your argument style. You seem to assume it that there is widespread anti-semitism, Israel is completely in the right, and it is due to the rest of the world's racist tendencies that the US is unpopular. In effect, you are saying 'Everyone hates us cuz we're beautiful' and its all everyone else's fault they can't see just how right we are. I just thought this was funnier to put it this way, even though it doesn't quite parallel your argument perfectly.

[Bleeding Red]

"You seem to assume it that there is widespread anti-semitism, Israel is completely in the right, and it is due to the rest of the world's racist tendencies that the US is unpopular."

There is widespread anti-semitism (as seen by recent gravesite desicrations in Canada, France and New Zealand). Israel is not completely right, however being anti-Israel is not always being anti-semetic. The US is unpopular in world opinion due to it's foreign policies and how it impliments those policies (yet it doesn't keep a majority of the world's poor from trying to get in.)

In the case of the Olympic judo match, there are some conflicting reports. The ruling judo body says that the Iranian didn't meet his weight. I find it hard to beleive that the top ranked player let his weight slide. An Iranian offical at first praised him for refusing to fight, then retraced his steps and said that it is Iranian policy not to compete with Israel in any international sport.

A black eye for the Olympics for sure. They allow a team from "unofficial" countries (The Palestinian Authority sent a team), recognize a moment of silence for the '72 massacre and yet refuse to sanction an athlete for unsportsmanlike conduct (IIRC good sportsmanship is a pillar of the Olympics)


??? if you want some info on the Arab-Israeli conflict the myths and facts website has a pretty extensvie look at the history. Leave a message in my box if you want a quick overview. Por-Israeli, yes, but I like to think that I admit Israeli errors and faults more often than my counterparts.

[Wookie]

Can someone give me a quick explanation here.

Is this a noble or or not-noble thing?

Did he not fight him becuase of some sort of protest and peace gesture? Or because he doesn't recognize Isreal as a nation and was being a dick?

I know so little about any of this that reading all the posts wasn't really doing much, and well.. yeah.. the article didn't make it clear for a person out to lunch

[Bleeding Red]

Originally posted by Wookie@Sep 15 2004, 02:25 PM
Can someone give me a quick explanation here.

Is this a noble or or not-noble thing?

Did he not fight him becuase of some sort of protest and peace gesture? Or because he doesn't recognize Isreal as a nation and was being a dick?

I know so little about any of this that reading all the posts wasn't really doing much, and well.. yeah.. the article didn't make it clear for a person out to lunch

This was no peace gesture. I don not recall any statement coming from the player or the country regarding solidarity with the palestinians or hoping for a more peaceful world, only the usual refusal to deal in any way with the "Zionists". Iran refuses to recognize Israel.

The "official" ruling by the organization that governs world judo competitions was that the Iranian did not make his weight and was disqulified. The Irainian position is that a patriotic Iranian refused to acknoledge his Israeli opponent an is now a national hero.

On a side note, The Iranian is the top ranked player in his class, a gold medal favorite. Everyone assumes he would have won the match. The Israeli player cried after his win was announced acknowledging that he probably would have lost, but all he really wanted was to compete in the Olympic tradition.

[Lurch]

A black eye for the Olympics for sure. They allow a team from "unofficial" countries (The Palestinian Authority sent a team), recognize a moment of silence for the '72 massacre and yet refuse to sanction an athlete for unsportsmanlike conduct (IIRC good sportsmanship is a pillar of the Olympics)

I certainly never said what the Iranian did was acceptable. However, rather than immediately paint it as rascist, recall, if you will, that both the US and Russia boycotted the Olympics entirely rather than compete against each other. Countries engaged in a conflict quite often use athletes as pawns, and its pretty clear that Israel is in a conflict with the majority of the Middle East.

[Wookie]

Originally posted by Bleeding Red+Sep 15 2004, 08:43 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Bleeding Red @ Sep 15 2004, 08:43 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Wookie@Sep 15 2004, 02:25 PM
Can someone give me a quick explanation here.

Is this a noble or or not-noble thing?

Did he not fight him becuase of some sort of protest and peace gesture? Or because he doesn't recognize Isreal as a nation and was being a dick?

I know so little about any of this that reading all the posts wasn't really doing much, and well.. yeah.. the article didn't make it clear for a person out to lunch

This was no peace gesture. I don not recall any statement coming from the player or the country regarding solidarity with the palestinians or hoping for a more peaceful world, only the usual refusal to deal in any way with the "Zionists". Iran refuses to recognize Israel.

The "official" ruling by the organization that governs world judo competitions was that the Iranian did not make his weight and was disqulified. The Irainian position is that a patriotic Iranian refused to acknoledge his Israeli opponent an is now a national hero.

On a side note, The Iranian is the top ranked player in his class, a gold medal favorite. Everyone assumes he would have won the match. The Israeli player cried after his win was announced acknowledging that he probably would have lost, but all he really wanted was to compete in the Olympic tradition. [/b][/quote]
Gotcha, that's what I assumed, but didn't want to go on the assumption.