Shame on Lebanon at the Rio Olympics

This tidbit from the Times of Israel web site:

The head of the Lebanese delegation to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro boasted Saturday that he physically blocked the entrance to a bus to prevent Israeli athletes from boarding amid a refusal to travel with them to the opening ceremony of the games on Friday.

“There were more than 250 buses assigned to transport delegations from the Olympics village to the ceremony. After we boarded bus number 22, for the Lebanese delegation, I was surprised to see the Israeli delegation approaching and trying to get on,” Nacoula said.

“I told the bus driver to close the door but a trainer who was with the Israelis prevented him from doing so. I had to physically stand at the door and block him and the rest of the delegation from boarding, knowing that some were trying to force their way through and were looking for trouble,” he went on.

Nacoula alleged that the Israeli had their own bus to take them. “Why did they want to board a bus with the Lebanese delegation?”

“I stood at the door and told those responsible that we would not let them on the bus with us,” he said.

Back home, Nacoula was praised in the press and on social media as a hero.

The incident was first described on Friday by Udi Gal, the Israeli sailing team trainer, who took to social media to criticize the Lebanese.

“I kept on insisting that we board the bus and said that if the Lebanese did not want to board as well they are welcome to leave,” Gal wrote in a Facebook post Friday.

“The bus driver opened the door, but this time the head of the Lebanese delegation blocked the aisle and entrance. The organizers wanted to avoid an international and physical incident and sent us away to a different bus,” he added.

SU says: here’s to hoping that Lebanon goes medal-less in Rio.

3 thoughts on “Shame on Lebanon at the Rio Olympics”

  1. I am in Jerusalem but thank SU for bringing this to my attention. Some other outlets are reporting that the Israelis did not belong on the bus. I’m sure officials would like this to be swept under the rug. But wouldn’t it be pretty simple to find a list who which teams were assigned to which busses and determine who was the troublemaker here?

  2. The wimpy Olympic Committee will somehow dodge this potential international incident. So much hate in this world and we look no further than our own borders to see how Trump opened up our ugly head to in order to see so much domestic hate as well which have remained quiet, but bubbling inside so many people.I just hope the Olympics go smoothly during the rest of the time.

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