(Arab News-Saudi Arabia) Hanna Gerber - As I was flipping through the various Olympic channels, my eye caught the blue and white stripes of the Israeli flag alongside the bright green image of the Saudi Arabian flag. As I watched Israeli athlete Raz Hershko compete against Saudi athlete Tahani Al-Qahtani in judo, I was struck by the significance of the match as these two powerful young women put aside any adverse politics. Historically, sports have consistently bridged people of different nationalities, religions, sexes and colors. To this day, sports are used to bring together Israeli and Arab children in an open, neutral and friendly environment. Sports have a way of stripping down biased tendencies and allowing people to connect on a basic person-to-person level. The Abraham Accords marked the beginning of a warm peace between two nationalities. Across the Middle East, brave individuals have decided that it is time to start building bridges and connect with people from different religions, countries and races.
2021-08-05 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive