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‘It’s a Welcome Distraction’: Israel Concludes Historic Run at Olympics Despite Facing Pressure, Threats, War
Paris 2024 Olympics – Ceremonies – Paris 2024 Closing Ceremony – Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France – August 11, 2024. Athletes of Israel take part in the closing ceremony. Photo: REUTERS/Albert Gea
Israel on Sunday completed its most successful performance in the Olympic Games in the history of the country, taking home a record-breaking seven medals while its delegation faced obstacles including death threats, security concerns, and pressure for them to be banned from the Olympics because of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
Israeli athletes won one gold medal in addition to five silver and a bronze at the Paris Games. Their last medal win took place on Saturday, when Israel’s rhythmic gymnastics team earned silver in the women’s rhythmic all-round group finals with a score of 68.850 points. They only trailed China, which won gold with a score of 69.800. The Israeli team consisted of five women: Shani Bakanov, 18, Adar Friedmann, 18, Romi Paritzki, 20, Ofir Shaham, 19, and Diana Svertsov, 19. The bronze medal went to Italy.
Israel reached the rhythmic team finals in the 2008, 2016, and 2020 Olympics, but Saturday’s win was Israel’s first Olympic medal in the team category.
Before arriving in Paris, Israel had a total of 13 Olympic medals in its history, but after the 2024 Olympic Games the country now has 20 — which include nine in judo and four in gymnastics.
“We’ve never been prouder,” read a post on Sunday that was published on the state of Israel’s official X/Twitter account. “Thank you Team Israel. Am Yisrael Chai.”
One of the proudest moments at the 2024 Olympic Games was when Tom Reuveny won a gold medal in the men’s windsurfing event, resulting in Israel’s national anthem “Hatikvah” playing on the speakers on the shores of Marseilles for the first during the Olympics this year. Reuveny carried Israel’s flag with Paritzki in the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics on Sunday.
Israel’s other Olympic winners this year included Sharon Kantor, who became the first Israeli woman to win a sailing medal when she took silver; judoka Raz Hershko, who won silver in the women’s over 78-kg category; fellow judoka Peter Paltchik and his bronze medal win in the men’s under 100-kg category; judoka Inbar Lanir, who won silver in the women’s under 78-kg category; and artistic gymnast Artem Dolgopyat, a silver medal winner in the men’s floor exercise. Dolgopyat won a gold in the Tokyo Olympics in the same category and is now Israel’s most decorated Olympian.
While there were heightened concerns before the Olympics started about the safety and security of the Israeli Olympic delegation during their time in Paris, the Games were relatively quiet with increased security personnel provided by Israel’s Shin Ben and also French police.
Anti-Israel posters and signs were seen at soccer matches, and some audience members booed during events that involved Israeli athletes. Palestinian flags were also waved as Israeli athletes competed, and two Israeli judokas were snubbed by their opponents in two different categories, one of which is being investigated by the International Judo Federation.
Meanwhile, Patlchik was criticized for supporting the Israel Defense Forces in its war against Hamas terrorists and Yael Arad, president of the Israeli National Olympic Committee, said some team members faced “centralized” threats aimed at stirring “psychological terror” in the athletes during the Olympic Games. There were also repeated efforts to have Israel banned from the Olympics.
Despite such obstacles and backlash because of the Israel-Hamas war, Team Israel prevailed and made history at the Olympics. They saw support from fans that even shocked the athletes themselves.
“We have so much support, which is shocking to me because we were obviously prepared for people to not be supportive,” Israeli equestrian Ashlee Bond told AFP. “The fact that we had so much support brought tears to my eyes.”
David Wiseman is the co-founder of Follow Team Israel, a page on Facebook and Instagram that shares stories about Israeli sports and athletes around the world. He spoke with The Algemeiner about Israel’s historic performance in the Olympic Games in Paris and how the counry’s Olympic delegation has grown over the years.
“It’s amazing that the Israeli team has been able to perform so well on the biggest stage with so many pressures that other athletes don’t have to deal with,” he said. “Israeli sport is getting better and better and better. Twelve years ago, the [Israeli Olympic] team was 37 athletes and didn’t win a medal. Now we’re 88 athletes (inflated by the soccer team of 18) and thus far have won seven. And these seven medals mean so much to the nation in a time when we’re dealing with so much. They are a welcome distraction and put a spring in everyone’s steps.”
“The reality is that just to get to the Olympics, the Israeli athletes have to be of a fantastic standard and then it comes down to being able to do it on the day,” he added. “After the Olympics, there’s a little bit of buzz for the athletes but then fans and media move on to basketball and football and no one cares much for sailing, judo and gymnastics, etc. That’s why we created the page — to share the amazing stories of our athletes all the time, regardless of the sport they play. The fans learn about the athletes and become more appreciative of them. I hope that following these historic Games, the powers that be will realize the significance and importance of sport and put even more resources into it. Our athletes deserve it.”
Gilad Lustig, the secretary general of Israel’s Olympic committee, believes there is symbolism with Israel winning seven medals at the Olympics when viewed in conjunction with Oct. 7, the date of the deadly Hamas terrorist attacks in southern Israel that started the ongoing war in Gaza.
“It’s the most important closing of the circle, after what they tried to do to us on Oct. 7,” he told Haaretz. “We are here, on the map.”
“This is our victory over what happened on Oct. 7,” Lustig added. “From the bottom of our hearts, from every team of ours, from all the people that accompanied this. The feeling of our mission is much greater, and we can seal it with the story of the seven medals. There is nothing more symbolic than that.”
Israel will give a total of NIS 5 million ($1.3 million), tax-free, to its Olympic medalists and NIS 2.5 million ($662,449) to the coaches of the winners, according to The Times of Israel. NIS 1 million will be given to its gold medalist; NIS 700,000 to each silver medalists, and NIS 500,000 to its bronze medalist.
Besides medals, athletes part of Team Israel made other achievements as well in the Paris Olympic. Lonah Chemtai Salpeter — a 35-year-old native of Kenya who is an Israeli citizen — finished in ninth place in the women’s marathon, which is the top placement for Israel in any Olympic marathon. Cyclist Mikhail Yakovlev, 23, held a new Olympic record in the men’s sprint during the qualifying race, but only for less than a minute before it was quickly overtaken by two of his competitors.
Israel’s artistic swimmers Shelly Bobritsky and Ariel Nassee finished 11th in the duet but the placement is Israel’s best Olympic finish in the category. The Israeli swim team that competed in the men’s 4×200 meter freestyle relay set a new record for Israel, and in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke, Ron Polonsky broke an Israeli record that he previously set.
Jewish athletes competing for other countries also won big at the Olympics this year.
American-Israeli wrestler Amit Elor, 20, won the gold medal in the women’s freestyle wrestling 68-kg finals. The Team USA athlete became the youngest American wrestler to win an Olympic gold in the history of the US, and the third woman from the US to win Olympic gold in wrestling. Team USA Jewish athletes Jackie Dubrovich and Maia Weintraub won gold as part of the women’s foil team, and American swimmer Claire Weinstein won her first Olympic medal this year — a silver in the women’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay. Sarah Levy won bronze as part of the US women’s rugby sevens team and American fencer Nick Itkin also took bronze in the men’s individual foil competition.
Jessica Fox won two gold medals in Paris for Team Australia, making her the most decorated canoe shalom competitor in the history of the Olympics. When her younger sister Naomi, 27, won gold in the first ever canoe slalom women’s kayak cross at the 2024 Olympic Games, they reportedly became the first Jewish siblings to both win gold at the same Olympics since 1964.
The post ‘It’s a Welcome Distraction’: Israel Concludes Historic Run at Olympics Despite Facing Pressure, Threats, War first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Treasure Trove remembers how Jewish Canadians reached out to rebuild poor neighbourhoods in Israel
Canadian Jewry should be proud of the support it has given to Israel during this very difficult time in its history. The outpouring of love and support is nothing new: it is something we have been doing since long before Israel was born.
To cite one example, this is a street sign in Jaffa that reads that the street is dedicated to the Canadian charities that donated funds to rehabilitate the neighbourhood.
The neighbourhood is Jaffa Dalet, which was built in the 1950s for new immigrants. By the 1970s it was a down-and-out area, one of the poorest in Israel, which had streets with numbers and no names.
Jaffa Dalet was one of 160 distressed neighbourhoods throughout Israel that prime minister Menachem Begin announced in 1978 would be rehabilitated in a joint project between the government of Israel and world Jewry. Named “Project Renewal”, the Jewish Agency joined as a partner, and undertook to twin Jewish communities around the world with specific neighbourhoods in Israel.
Jaffa Dalet was twinned with Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Regina and Saskatoon, and it is the support from these communities, and donations from other Canadians, that is memorialized in this street sign. Other Canadian Project Renewal twinnings were Montreal with Yerucham, Toronto with Beit Dagan, and unfederated communities in Ontario and the West with Or Yehudah.
Today, Jaffa is a mixed community of Jews and Arabs and includes many Falash Mura who arrived from Ethiopia about 20 years ago. The area is again going through a phase of urban renewal (Pinui Binui in Hebrew, literally “evacuation and construction”) in which old apartment buildings are being demolished and replaced with more modern and larger buildings. The process allows existing residents to enjoy new and more spacious apartments without having to leave their neighbourhood, while the area’s infrastructure is updated and more residential units are built.
Jewish Canadians responded when the call came from Israel in the 1970s to help build the country. There is much rebuilding required now as a result of the wars Israel has fought since Oct. 7, 2023, and no doubt Canadian Jewry will continue to respond to the call. Our actions today will long be remembered, whether in the name of a street or in the knowledge that when help was needed, we were there.
Here’s hoping that 2025 finally brings a quick return of the hostages, safety for Israel’s soldiers, comfort to those who have lost so much, and peace for Israel and the entire region.
The post Treasure Trove remembers how Jewish Canadians reached out to rebuild poor neighbourhoods in Israel appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Shabbat Mikeytz: The Power of Dreams
A Torah scroll. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
Dreams play a very important part in the Biblical narrative. We have read in recent weeks about Yaakov’s dream of angels going up and down a ladder. Yosef dreamt about his own future — as well as the dreams of the baker and the butcher and those of Pharaoh. The implication is that these dreams were all reliable messages, coming as Yosef says, from God.
The question we have to answer is to what extent dreams should be relied on. To this day, there are people who make a living out of interpreting dreams. Are they charlatans taking advantage of the credulous, or are they onto something?
When it comes to Yosef and Pharaoh, they both had dreams which came true. In the case of Yosef, it’s his turning from a victim in a pit to the ruler of Egypt. In the case of Pharaoh, it’s a premonition of seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. But later on, when the Torah talks about false prophets, it’s talking about dreamers who should not be relied on (Devarim 13).
It will come as no surprise that the Talmud has pages about how to react to dreams and interpret them. Most take dreams very seriously, but disagree over interpretations and their validity. Others do not. The variety and disagreements that you can find in the Talmud are proof of how controversial dreams were then — and indeed, remain so for many people now.
Rav Chisdah said a dream that’s not interpreted is like a letter that’s not read. So if you ignore it, you’re not going to get any message. He also said that neither a good nor a bad dream is entirely fulfilled. On the cynical side, Rav Yochanan said that there’s no such thing as a dream without idle information — which is about right for most of my dreams.
The Gemara deals with the charlatans who make a living out of interpreting dreams. Rav Akiva said that there were 24 interpreters of dreams in Jerusalem, and each one disagreed as to what the interpretation was. Bar Hadaya, a popular interpreter, would give a good interpretation of a dream to anybody who paid him money and a bad interpretation if they did not. One rabbi who had a bad interpretation because he wouldn’t pay the first time, came back with money and then got a good interpretation. Plenty of those are still around today.
Then you have what I might call the Freudians. Shmuel bar Nachmani said that a person is shown in his dream only the thoughts of his own heart (i.e., mind). In other words, dreams are a reflection of the subconscious, which sounds as though it was written by Sigmund Freud himself. Of course they didn’t use those terms at that time. Rava said that one is neither shown a golden palm tree nor an elephant going through the eye of a needle in a dream. Dreams only contain images that a person has actually seen.
Nevertheless, these pages are full of all kinds of attempts to interpret what one dreams. I have to say that after a year of almost constant nightmares, I’m at last beginning to have sweet dreams. And so I wish you all a very happy Hanukkah and may all your dreams be sweet and amusing.
The author is a writer and rabbi, currently based in New York.
The post Shabbat Mikeytz: The Power of Dreams first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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How the Media Blamed Israel for Ruining Bethlehem’s Christmas (Again)
Tourists walk in Manger Square outside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Dec. 2, 2019. Photo: Reuters / Mussa Qawasma.
Once again, it’s that time of the year. But we won’t repeat the obvious: the media love blaming Israel for ruining Christmas in Bethlehem.
We will, however, point at the strategy they use to achieve this.
Here is the issue: The media need to cover what they see. And in Bethlehem, they see a baby Jesus doll placed in rubble; no foreign tourists; and protests in solidarity with Gaza. It is undoubtedly a somber Christmas in Jesus’ traditional birthplace, and it should be reported.
But the media should and can apply critical thinking in their choice of interviewees and background material. And they are not doing so.
The Only Priest in Bethlehem?
The media star of the season, except for Jesus, was (again) Munther Isaac, a pastor at Bethlehem’s Lutheran Church.
Outlets like Reuters, BBC, ABC News, and NBC News were happy to quote Isaac for a simple reason: His church was responsible for the media stunt showing baby Jesus as a Palestinian child amid Gaza rubble.
Fair enough. But nowhere did these outlets mention that Isaac has also justified the October 7 massacre, and has been described as “the high priest of antisemitic Christianity.”
Respected news outlets should not fall prey to the manipulations of one priest. Professional coverage should have bothered to contrast his view with that of other voices in the local Christian community.
But the problem runs deeper. These media outlets rely on Palestinian producers in Bethlehem who would never undermine — out of fear or bias — this anti-Israeli narrative. And their foreign bosses would not dare question their work, because they need their connections.
Selective Background
More proof of the media’s seasonal bias against Israel can be gleaned from the background information provided in certain stories.
Instead of reminding news consumers about the Palestinian Authority’s responsibility for the dwindling numbers of local Christians, many outlets include lengthy background paragraphs about Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.
In Reuters‘ story, for example, a whole section is dedicated to Israel’s settlement activity. One exceptionally irrelevant passage reads:
Israel has built Jewish settlements, deemed illegal by most countries, across the territory. Israel disputes this, citing historical and biblical ties to the land. Several of its ministers live in settlements and favour their expansion.
Similarly, the AP’s “Christmas in Bethlehem” photo collection includes a picture of the security barrier that partially surrounds the city, as a man just happens to walk past graffiti that reads: “Walls are meant for bombing.” Never mind that this wall stood there when Bethlehem enjoyed crowded and celebratory holiday seasons.
And let’s not forget that this bias is not limited to the Christian holidays. Every holiday celebrated by Palestinians in the region — from Ramadan to Easter — gets automatically evaluated based on Israel’s actions.
It never works the other way around, making it seem that Palestinians bear no responsibility whatsoever. For example, the media never outright blamed Hamas for ruining the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah, which was deliberately chosen as the date for the October 7 massacre.
For the media, it seems, the “oppressed” Palestinians are granted automatic virtue, while the Israeli “oppressors” are seen as innately evil. The holiday season is just another opportunity to show it.
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
The post How the Media Blamed Israel for Ruining Bethlehem’s Christmas (Again) first appeared on Algemeiner.com.