Now this really is "disgusting" to me...

[thebin]

I think the IOC should have some stones and tell the entire Iranian delegation- not just the judo team- to get the hell out of the Olympics until they join the 21st century. This is afterall, not an individual decision- punish the entire team for this crap.

sports.yahoo.com/oly/judo/news?slug=reu-iranjudoscandal&prov=reuters&type=lgns

[thebin]

Just saw this piece by Dan Wetzel with which I obviously concur. The general silence which which I expect the world's media to treat this is further evidence to me of the rising tolerance of anti-Semitism, particulary in eurocentric and internatational bodies like the IOC. Punishing the judo team will not be enough. This is coming from the top- toss every single Iranian athlete and embarrass them for this naked bigotry.

sports.yahoo.com/oly/judo/news;_ylc=X3oDMTBpaTA3aXJpBF9TAzk2NjcyOTgwBHNlYwNocA--?slug=dw-judo0815_02&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

Large excerpt....

"Iran's Olympic delegation made its statement when it supported this hatred.


And now the International Olympic Committee, backed by the civilized world, should make its statement loud and clear: Toss Iran out of the Athens Games.


Immediately.


Disqualify the entire Iranian delegation, send them home and hold them up to international scrutiny and ridicule. Anything less is to look away, to tacitly approve, to take the conciliatory path, to allow xenophobia, racism and religious persecution to thrive.



Anything less is to allow the Games to become a global stage for radical political statements.


Anything less is to spit in the eye of the Olympic ideal that the spirit of competition can bridge differences and bring people of all backgrounds together.


It is one thing if this were one man acting on his own. If Iran came out and condemned the closed-mindedness of its own athlete the issue would be over before it started.


But Iran, which does not recognize Israel's existence and bans contact with the nation, is complicit.


Thursday, when the draw for the judo competition was announced, Miresmaeili told Iran's government-run press agency, "Although I have trained for months and was in good shape I refused to fight my Israeli opponent to sympathize with the suffering of the people of Palestine and I do not feel upset at all."


By Sunday, Iran was claiming Miresmaeili merely missed weight.


Are we to believe the government-run media misquoted the athlete? Is it plausible that a two-time world champion such as Miresmaeili would fail to make weight for the Olympics?


This entire episode was no surprise. This was no secret.


Even after his statement, Miresmaeili was chosen to carry Iran's flag during the opening ceremony, a disgustingly telling honor.


On Friday night at the Olympic Stadium, Miresmaeili stood among athletes of all creeds and colors and took an oath that, in part, promises to abide by the "true spirit of sportsmanship ... and the honor of our teams."


So what is that oath worth today? What are the Olympics worth?


Would the world stand for a country that approved of athletes who refused to compete against blacks?


Would the world stand for a country that approved of athletes who refused to compete against Muslims?


Of course not.


From 1964 until 1992 the IOC banned South Africa from participating in the Games because of the country's system of apartheid.


It told that country that it wasn't civilized enough to join the world's games. Then it welcomed them back when things changed.


If Iran is so bothered by the presence of Israel, or Jewish athletes from other countries, in these Games then it should have boycotted the entire thing.


Instead it's attempting to make a mockery of the Olympics, turning it into a forum to express unbridled hatred to a global audience.


Yet as of Sunday afternoon here, the IOC had no announced plans to do anything to Iran. It had made no comment at all. No response.


It is a craven and damning silence."

[DFW HOYA]

With a modern day sword of Damocles hanging over the Olympics, angering the Iranians is the last thing the IOC is going to do. The IOC has a very "French-like" approach to diplomacy.

And if the situation were reversed--an Israeli backed away from playing an Iranian, what then?

[showcase]

I'm disappointed this affair hasn't garnered more attention, but I'm not so sure it's quite such a big deal.

This Iranian idiot doesn't want to compete against an Israeli athlete based on his "principled" opposition to the existence of Israel? Fine - as I recall, judo is single-elimination, so this clown gets to go home right now. He won't be having his cake and eating it to, or bring glory to Iran with his efforts, so the penalty for his idiocy is nicely internalized.

As for whether this implicates broader concerns, I'm not so sure. As Wetzel points out, the world would not stand for a country that approved of athletes who refused to compete against Muslim or black athletes (or so I would hope, anyway). On the other hand, it appears to be perfectly acceptable to boycott Games entirely for political reasons.

Under this paradigm, if this Iranian had refused to compete against any Jewish athlete, Israeli included, I'd agree completely with Wetzel that this is a serious affront to what little dignity the Games retain. On the other hand, an Israeli athlete is not necessarily a Jewish athlete, and this Iranian wasn't brazen enough (or perhaps just not stupid enough) to declare than any Jewish athlete was below him, so I don't don't reach the same conclusion that this goes beyond politics.

Ultimately, this fool has made his own bed, so I think he should be made to lie in it and be sent home, since he's no longer an athlete who has or will compete in the Games. However, I just don't see this situation as some form of "hate speech" that must be distinguished from the US boycott of the '80 Olympics in Moscow or the almost-universal Soviet-bloc boycott of the '84 Olympics in LA. While it is a bit offensive that one idiot decides to use his olympic moment to interject politics into the Games, I don't like the idea of holding a group of athletes who likely have differing political views accountable for that one person's idiocy, even if it is encouraged by that nation's olympic body. It's hard enough to keep politics off the Olympic radar, so I say as long as those politics cannot fairly be labeled as a mere figleaf for actual bigotry (and I know, I know, 'there's the rub'), the proper recourse is to exorcise the individuals who can't get past it and let the rest compete like true athletes.

[thebin]

Showcase I am not sure you are grasping what happened. You are emphazing the "one idiot" thing. I don't think its reasonable to assume that is what happened. This is state policy in Iran- and the guy is following it- and in a nation so fascist, why on earth would you assume the guy has the liberty in the first place to make this his decision? This was the state of Iran's policy implemented in a decietful manner where the truth of the thing is far more easy to glean by paying attention to how this is being portrayed in the Iranian "media." I think you are being a bit gullible showcase. I am disappointed but not surprised to see how quickly this disgraceful story has fallen of the media's radar- particularly in Europe. And yeah, I would be quite surprised to see the IOC show any backbone and act.

[thebin]

part of a Reuters piece...

"Tehran said it had no regrets.


"Our policy is not to recognize the Zionist regime in any international event ... We cannot accept the presence of anyone in international events under the flag of that regime," government spokesman Abdollah Ramazanzadeh told a news conference.


Ramazanzadeh described Miresmaeili's action as voluntary but made clear it expected its competitors to avoid Israelis.


"We thank all our athletes who voluntarily follow our policy in international events and consider them our real national champions and heroes of peace," he said.


IRAN UNREPENTANT


He also charged that Israel, not Iran, was the country that was trampling on the Olympic spirit -- in occupied Palestinian land: "The spirit of peace and friendship suggests that occupation must end and international organizations should help to end it," the government spokesman said.


Miresmaeili was ruled out against Vaks after failing to get his weight down. But the athlete and Iranian officials made no bones about their refusal to fight on political grounds.


Koaz said it was inconceivable for an athlete like Miresmaeili, who carried the flag for his team at the Olympic opening ceremony on Friday, to be so far off the weight.


Brousse underlined the IJF's adherence to the Olympic ideals and abhorrence of any form of discrimination.


"Entering the Olympics means sharing the values of the Olympic movement," he said. "We value peace and we cannot tolerate discrimination. This is very important for the future of the IOC, for the future of judo."


Over the years there have been cases outside the Olympics of Israelis and Iranians being drawn against each other and the Iranian then failing to turn up for various reasons.


Many leading judo figures believed Miresmaeili, present with team officials as a mere spectator on Monday, had wanted to fight.


"It's a shocker. I'm sure that the Iranian judo player wants to fight," said U.S. judo coach Bob Berland. "

[DFW HOYA]

Bin, Iran is not, by definition, a fascist state.

Fascist governments tend to share three qualities: elevation of the state over the individual, centralization of power in a single person or national identity, and ethnic or racial purity.

Iran is more a theocratic police state than a fascist government, in that the faith (as defined by the mullahs and other rulers) is more important than even the state. It's also not an ethnically homogenous country either, as it's almost evenly split among Persian and non-Persian factions. By contrast, Iraq was much closer to a fascist government under Saddam.

[showcase]

thebin said:

Showcase I am not sure you are grasping what happened. You are emphazing the "one idiot" thing. I don't think its reasonable to assume that is what happened. This is state policy in Iran- and the guy is following it- and in a nation so fascist, why on earth would you assume the guy has the liberty in the first place to make this his decision? This was the state of Iran's policy implemented in a decietful manner where the truth of the thing is far more easy to glean by paying attention to how this is being portrayed in the Iranian "media."

I guess I wasn't clear - to me, it is largely irrelevant whether the impetus for the althete's 'statement' comes freely from this particular athlete or whether he was coerced into it (although I'd have sympathy for the victimized athlete in the latter case as indicated below, and the Reuters article is a bit ambiguous as to whether the athlete went along happily or not). The point is that they're singling out Israel for political purposes, rather than Jews generically. I'd share every aspect of your outrage if the Iranian Olympic Committee forebade its athletes from competing against any Jew, but I don't think the basis for their discrimination is actually keyed to religion rather than nationality; I doubt this judo fella would have gone forward with the match if only his opponent been an Arab or Christian Israeli. That doesn't make it better, but it does distinguish Iran from, say, an apartheid South Africa, or a refusal to compete against blacks or Muslims (arguments made by Wetzel).

Look, lots of countries, including this nation, have turned their noses up at competing vs. certain nations (or at the Games certain nations are hosting) as a political protest. I think it's wrong generally and that Iran's wrong for doing it in this case. However, so long as the political objection is not simply a proxy for bigotry (and again, I know there's room to debate this issue re: Iran, but I'm not taking a side on that debate, nor do I need to here), I find nothing extraordinarily lamentable about Iran's political shenanigans.

I find boycotts of this type amount to cutting off one's nose to spite one's face, so if Iran wants to do that, so much the better; it gives me a strong rooting interest beyond my own nation's athletes and I would hope the same would be true for the rest of the world's citizens. As for the punishment Wetzel advocates - denying all Iranian athletes an opportunity to compete and sending them home in disgrace - I think it's a bit paradoxical to decry the 'fascist' regime that tramples on the individual athlete's ability to follow his or her conscience and yet advocate collective punishment that results in "international scrutiny and ridicule" for those apparently hapless individuals. Either the athlete willingly follows the Iranian party line (and is culpable for doing so), or they're hapless pawns, and the punishment should be tailored with that consideration in mind.