South Africa is a shining example of the good sports can do for society. In the wake of widespread international condemnation of Israel’s botched commando raid last week that killed nine people on a humanitarian aid flotilla headed to the Gaza Strip — where Palestinians live under what Nobel-prize winning South African Bishop Desmond Tutu, also on my flight, once said is Israel’s apartheid-like thumb — could it not be time for sport to illuminate Israel’s deadly occupation of Palestinians?
Maybe a sports boycott of Israel, where sports are beloved the same as in South Africa, could help foster a round of truly meaningful peace talks between Israel and Palestinians. Maybe such a collective effort could exercise the same leverage on Israel that it did for nearly 30 years with South Africa…
A sports boycott would certainly intensify the world’s spotlight on Israel’s approach to dealing with its occupied territories, just like it did South Africa’s defunct government’s dealings with its occupied peoples.
After what we witnessed Israel suffer at the ’72 Munich Games, it would seem particularly callous to expel it from the Olympics, the world’s most-inclusive athletic smorgasbord, but someplace — European basketball championships, the Davis Cup, etc. — a stand should be taken.
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