In response to the achievements of Israeli athletes at the Paris Olympics – six medals so far, in judo, windsurfing and gymnastics – Muhammad Hamed, a columnist for the Saudi news website Elaph.com, wrote an article titled "Six Medals for Israel, Two for the [Arab] Nation of Half a Billion," in which he claimed that this discrepancy is an embarrassment for the Arabs, especially given that the population of Israel is only ten million. He added that a similar discrepancy between Israel and the Arab countries exists in the spheres of scientific research, medicine, engineering, and agriculture, and exhorted the Arabs to take note, maintaining that Olympic achievements are an important indicator of a country's culture and status.
Image: X/com/IsraelArabic, August 4, 2024
The following are translated excerpts from Muhammad Hamed's article: [1]
"I won't delve into the conflict between the Arabs and Israel from a political and historic perspective, nor will I discuss the chances of peace or coexistence, given the bleak picture regarding any possibility of [achieving] a hiatus [in the conflict] or any reconciliation.
"But permit me to inform you that Israel's Olympic delegation in the current Paris Olympics – which comes from an entity [i.e., Israel] that, until recently, we considered weak in sports, and which is surrounded by bodyguards around the clock and is under constant tension – has to date won six medals in surfing, judo, and gymnastics, one of them a gold medal…
"Meanwhile, to date, all the Arab [delegations together] have won [only] two medals – silver for Tunisia and bronze for Egypt. Israel is currently in the 21st place [on the Olympic Medal table], while the highest-ranking Arab country is Tunisia, presently in 48th place in terms of medals won at the Paris Olympics, while Egypt is in 57th place at the moment.[2]
"The population of Israel is about ten million, while the number of Arabs is almost half a billion, or to be precise 474 million. This comparison evokes a sense of embarrassment – at least in the realm of sports – even if the Arab athletes still have time to win more medals.
"What has been said [here] about Israeli sports in comparison to the large Arab nation… is also true for scientific research, medicine, engineering and also for agriculture, where Israel's excellence is astounding. For despite its small size and shortage of water, its agricultural productivity is among the best in the world.
"I am not doling out praise here to an entity that is not generally accepted by the Arab people, nor am I sending a message of frustration to the Arab nation whose population and territory stretch from the [Persian] Gulf to the [Atlantic] Ocean and which possesses unparallelled human capital and [natural] resources. My message is simple: Where are we, and where are the podiums of the Paris Olympics? One must take into account that Olympic glory is considered an important indicator of culture and of the present [status] of nations – otherwise the competition between China and the U.S. in the Olympics wouldn't have been so bone-crushing."
