'New Arab hero': Kuwaiti withdraws from international karate competition over Israeli opponent

Kuwaiti karateka Mohammed Al-Otaibi has withdrawn from an international competition in order not to compete against an Israeli opponent.

Al-Otaibi was due to face an Israeli athlete during the latest round of the Karate K1 Premier League taking place over the weekend in the Azerbaijani capital Baku, where some of the sport's best competitors are vying for championship titles.

The karateka’s decision was widely praised on social media, where activists described him as a "true hero" for standing up for the Palestinian cause.

محمد مشعل العتيبي، بطل عربي جديد، يدوّن اسمه في قائمة الشرف والبطولة، رافضًا الميداليات ومنصات التتويج والألقاب، الملوثة بعار التطبيع مع كيان الاحتلال.

تحية لمحمد العتيبي، ولكل الرياضيين العرب الذين يواصلون الانتصار لفلسطين في المحافل الدولية. pic.twitter.com/6a7g3DCtNy

— مقاطعة (@Boycott4Pal) September 3, 2022

Kuwaiti athletes have often refused - in various sporting events - to compete against Israeli opponents in line with the Gulf country’s stance against normalising ties with Israel.

Boycott4Pal, a media platform that covers Israeli boycotts and monitors normalisation, lauded Al-Otaibi as a "new Arab hero", who has "imprinted his name in the list of honor and heroism, rejecting medals, podiums and titles, tainted with the shame of normalisation with the occupation entity".

The Facebook group, 'I am an Arab Against Normalisation', also commented on the karateka’s departure from the competition, and said: "A special greeting to the Kuwaiti people who reject normalisation in all its forms, and a greeting to all Arabs who support a [meaningful] cause that touches [all] religions and humanity".

كفو بطلنا محمد العتيبي #الكويت

ترفُّع البطل الكويتي محمد مشعل العتيبي عن
مواجهة اللاعب الصهيوني في الدوري العالمي للكاراتية

ويبقى #التطبيع_خيانه#فلسطين_قضيتي pic.twitter.com/V5NqkUTh1s

— شباب القدس- الكويت (@Q8_4_Quds) September 2, 2022

Other anti-normalisation groups described the move as a "victory of principles", while others who commended him did so under the hashtags 'Palestine is My Cause' and 'Normalisation is Betrayal'.

In May, fencer Kholoud al-Mutairi withdrew from the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation in Thailand in a similar fashion, where she was also branded "heroic" for her move in support of the Palestinian cause.

Tennis player Muhammad al-Awadi also snubbed his Israeli counterpart in an under-14 international competition in January this year.

Kuwait, like many Arab countries, does not have any diplomatic or commercial ties with Israel and has continuously enforces a series of laws punishing public expressions of support for the Israeli state, as well as upholding a ban on the import of Israeli goods.

Moreover, the Gulf country does not permit entry to Israeli passport holders and bars its citizens from visiting Israel. 

However, in recent years a number of Arab states have normalised relations with Israel, including the UAE, Morocco and Bahrain - a move that Palestinians have described as a 'stab in the back' for their cause.