The New Arab Staff
Apr 27, 2025
Israeli sporting teams have seen many acts of protest especially since the start of the war on Gaza which has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians
In the latest act of solidarity, players from Switzerland’s fencing team turned their backs on the Israeli team during the medal ceremony at the Under-23 European Fencing Championship held on Saturday in Tallinn, Estonia.
The Israeli men’s team had won the gold medal, while Switzerland took silver and Italy secured bronze. However, when the Israeli national anthem was played during the podium ceremony, the Swiss fencers deliberately turned their backs in silent protest.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar condemned the action, labelling it “disrespectful”, but the Swiss team’s quiet gesture was widely interpreted by many as a stand against Israel’s ongoing genocidal campaign in Gaza, where over 61,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed since October 2023.
“Switzerland’s athletes, with their courageous act of turning away during Israel’s anthem, deserve profound respect for standing in silent solidarity with the innocent children lost to Israeli terror attacks […],” a post on X said.
“The Iraqi national team withdrew from the individual races in the World Cup fencing championship, which qualifies for the Paris Olympics, after the lottery pitted it against the team of the occupying Israeli entity,” the Iraqi Fencing Federation said in a statement at the time.
“The decision to withdraw came in compliance with the law criminalising normalisation approved by the Iraqi parliament, and in solidarity with the Palestinian cause.”
Beyond fencing, similar shows of solidarity have swept through other sports. Football fans across Europe and Latin America have regularly held up Palestinian flags during matches. Calls are growing louder for Israel to face international sporting isolation, mirroring the bans placed on Russia following its war on Ukraine.
Campaigns are intensifying to suspend Israel from major international sporting bodies, including FIFA and the International Olympic Committee, citing the systematic targeting of civilians in Gaza and the deliberate blockade of humanitarian aid.
Advocacy groups say sports cannot be separated from politics when one side uses genocide and collective punishment as tools of war.
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