More rejection of normalization deals: Kuwaitis ‘proud of’ chess champion for refusing to face Israeli player
A Kuwaiti chess player has refused to play against an Israeli opponent at Spain’s Sunway International Chess Championship, in an act of solidarity with the Palestinian people and a fresh blow to the occupying Tel Aviv regime’s status in the world.
Fide Master Bader al-Hajri, one of Kuwait’s chess champions who had secured first place in 2015’s “San Sebastian” championship in Spain, withdrew on Tuesday from the competitions as he rejected to face an Israeli settler.
On social media, Arab activists lauded al-Hajri as a champion of “rejecting Arab countries’ normalization” with the Israeli regime by refusing to face “an Israeli settler.”
The activist said they are “proud of him” while noting that the Israelis must be “mad at him.”
“God bless him and may God reward him well,” a Twitter user tweeted, with many others echoing similar sentiments.
This is not the first time a Kuwaiti player refuses to face an Israeli opponent.
Last month, Kuwaiti fencer Mohamed al-Fadli withdrew from the World Fencing Championships held in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to avoid facing an Israeli opponent.
Fadli also withdrew from an international tournament in the Dutch capital, Amsterdam, in September 2019, after the draw placed him in a group competing with an Israeli player.
In January, teenage Kuwaiti tennis player Muhammad al-Awadi earned widespread praise for his support for the Palestinian cause after he withdrew from an international tennis tournament held in the UAE to avoid facing an Israeli opponent.
Throughout the years, similar measures have been taken by scores of players from Muslim-majority countries, including Iran, Sudan, Libya, Algeria, and Lebanon.
Meanwhile, the governments of Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Qatar, and Kuwait have also slammed normalization agreements between Israel and four Muslim countries – the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco – and have expressed their unwavering support for the Palestinian cause.
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