BEIRUT (Dispatches) – The Gaza-based Anti-Normalization Campaign has welcomed Lebanese tennis player Mohamed Ataya’s decision to withdraw from the Cyprus International Championship so as not to face a Zionist opponent.
The organization said the athlete’s withdrawal reflects the rejection of the great Lebanese people, and all Arab peoples, to normalize with the Zionist occupation, and standing up against the crimes committed by the regime against the defenseless Palestinian people.
It commended the player, saying he joined a long list of honorable heroes who refuse normalization in response to the call to boycott the occupying regime.
It called on all Arab and Islamic bodies and institutions to boycott the Zionist occupation in all arenas, with the aim of isolating it, until it respects the rights and demands of the Palestinian people for liberation.
In recent years, an increasing number of athletes from Arab and Muslim countries have avoided facing Zionist opponents in international competitions in support of the Palestinian cause.
They view the participation of Zionist athletes in sports events as a scheme to help the occupying regime gradually normalize its relations with Muslim and Arab nations despite its brutal occupation of Palestine and its relentless crimes against Palestinians.