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Tunisia bans Israel delegations from sports contest

April 10, 2018 at 3:48 pm

Tunisians authorities have denied an Israeli delegation entry to the taekwondo junior championships, Israeli media sources said.

Israel’s representatives were initially told they would be able to compete as long as they did so without any symbol of their country, the Hebrew language Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported.

The CEO of the Israeli Taekwondo Federation Michel Madar, who is a council member of the World Taekwondo Federation, arrived in Tunisia on his French passport to attend the organisation’s general assembly.

But when Tunisian airport officials noticed that Madar’s passport was issued in Jerusalem, he wasn’t allowed to enter the country and was sent back to Paris, the Jerusalem Post reported.

READ: Taekwondo official denies Israeli participation in world championship in Tunisia

A court in Tunis ruled last week that the Israelis would be banned from competing after a group of activists opposed to normalisation with Israel filed an urgent lawsuit.

According to the Associated Press, “the plaintiffs argued in their lawsuit that the athletes’ presence would clash with constitutional provisions and agreements signed by the Tunisian government. They argue that Tunisia has committed ‘to denouncing and refusing Zionist occupation and colonisation, as well as boycotting and not dealing with the Zionist entity… in any way.’”