Israeli jiu-jitsu fighter Yoav Manor remained calm despite the dramatic confrontation.

By World Israel News Staff

A Kuwaiti athlete refused to shake an Israeli competitor’s hand and verbally berated the fellow jiu-jitsu athlete at an international competition in Abu Dhabi, even leaving the medal ceremony rather than being photographed alongside the athlete from the Jewish state.

The drama unfolded last week during the under-77-kilogram medal ceremony at the AJP Tour in the United Arab Emirates, when gold medal winner Jassem Al-Hatem refused to shake the hand of bronze medalist Yoav Manor during the podium ceremony.

A clip that quickly went viral on social media showed Al-Hatem appearing furious as he refused to acknowledge Manor’s outstretched hand before storming away from the podium while calling the Israeli athlete a “child killer,” according to witnesses.

Unfazed by the confrontation, Manor then posed for pictures with German silver medalist Aram Lazar, who appeared visibly confused by the drama before embracing the Israeli competitor and posing for photographs with him.

Jassem Al-Hatem’s unsportsmanlike behavior quickly generated headlines across the Middle East and Israel, but the Kuwaiti athlete later took to social media to defend his actions, claiming that refusing to acknowledge the Israeli competitor was part of his Muslim faith.

“As a Muslim, you must have principles… We do not [compete] with these types. We do not respect these types,” Al-Hatem said in an Arabic-language post published on his social media accounts.

“As Kuwaitis, we do not respect them at all,” he added.

In a statement to the Hebrew-language outlet Ynet, the Israeli delegation praised the Emirati organizers of the competition and commended Manor for remaining calm throughout the incident.

“Despite the tension, the organizers and Emirati hosts tried to calm the situation and persuade the Kuwaiti competitor to take part in the medal ceremony, but he chose to leave the podium area,” the delegation said.

“Yoav, for his part, remained focused on the sporting achievement: a bronze medal at a prestigious international competition after an impressive day of bouts against opponents from around the world.”

The post ‘Child-killer’ — Kuwaiti athlete melts down over Israeli rival appeared first on World Israel News.

Shikri was also awarded a gold medal in November which he dedicated to his friends who were killed by Hamas at the Nova Music Festival.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Yarin Shriki, an Israeli Jiu Jitsu champion and Nova music festival survivor dedicated his gold medal to his friend who was murdered by Hamas on October 7th.

After winning the Paris Jiu Jitsu 2024 Grand Prix on Saturday, Shriki said his gold medal was dedicated to the memory of his deceased best friend Yohai Ben Zechariah.

Shikri won the male under-69kg Gi category, defeating two contestants from France and one from Ukraine.

The final match was suspenseful, with the Ukrainian fighter Kostiantyn Shutko appearing almost victorious until the final 30 seconds when Shikri took the lead by two points.

Speaking to The Jerusalem Post, Shikri said, “I am very proud to represent our country, especially in places where the majority isn’t supporting us, and there is a lot of hate towards our people.”

He added, “It gives me great satisfaction to make those people stand for the Israel national anthem.”

In an Instagram post, Shikri wrote, “Grand Prix Paris gold medal. Thank God for everything.”

Shikri was also awarded a gold medal in November which he dedicated to his friends who were killed by Hamas at the Nova Music Festival.

In a post from November, Shirki wrote, “Where do I start my story… A story that never ends. On 7/10 I was in Nova with my brothers and close friends. I’ve never described what happened to us.”

He added, “How does a party of fun and beautiful people turn into an area full of corpses and blood? Not a few hours passed and I started to hear that people so close to me were no longer answering.”

Shikri explained, “We ran away as fast as possible in every direction and miraculously I made it home. But my friends didn’t.”

“I didn’t have time to cry as I already found myself returning to training with all my might for the European Team Championship in Croatia,” he added.

“And before I got on the plane, the only thing I knew was that I was going to play the national anthem for all those beautiful people who were murdered in cold blood,” Shikri stated.

He concluded, “This gold medal is dedicated to my dear Yochai ben Zakaria and the late Osher Simcha Barzilai, z”l, thank you for everything.

The post Israeli Jiu-Jitsu champion and Nova festival survivor dedicates gold medal to murdered friend appeared first on World Israel News.

Hamid Amraei was originally scheduled to go head-to-head against a competitor from Brazil in the men’s 77-kilogram weight class in the AJP Tour Fujairah International Pro Jiu-Jitsu Championship.

By JNS

An Iranian athlete withdrew his participation in an international jiu-jitsu competition in the United Arab Emirates to avoid facing an opponent from Israel, reported Iran’s Press TV reported.

Hamid Amraei was originally scheduled to go head-to-head against a competitor from Brazil in the men’s 77-kilogram weight class in the AJP Tour Fujairah International Pro Jiu-Jitsu Championship, which took place in the UAE during July 2-3.

However, officials changed the draw, and he was matched to go against an Israeli competitor.

In protest of the decision, Amraei decided to pull out of the international tournament to avoid competing against the Israeli athlete, according to Press TV.

In May, Kuwaiti wheelchair fencer Kholoud al-Mutairi withdrew from the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation World Cup in Thailand after a draw placed her in a match-up against an athlete from Israel.

A month earlier, Kuwaiti fencer Mohamed al-Fadli pulled out from the World Fencing Championships held in the UAE for the same reason. He was hailed on social media by Arab activists, who said they were “proud of him” and called him a champion for “rejecting Arab countries’ normalization” with Israel.

Other athletes who decided no longer to participate in international competitions to avoid facing an Israeli opponent include Algerian judoka Fethi Nourine and Sudanese judoka Mohamed Abdalrasool, both of whom withdrew from the 2020 Olympics Games in Tokyo.

The post Iranian pulls out of competition after refusing to play against Israeli opponent appeared first on World Israel News.

Israel’s victory at the Jiu-Jitsu World Championship held in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday was overshadowed by a Kazakh opponent, who chose to kneel and disrespect the Israeli national anthem.

The post WATCH: Kazakh athlete disrespects Israeli anthem after losing to Israel appeared first on World Israel News.