Olympic Chiefs Discover Free Speech, Threaten Indonesia
Indonesia, with no diplomatic ties to Israel, understandably barred the gymnasts from an international event it was hosting. In response, predictably, the International Gymnastics Federation and IOC have declared Indonesia blacklisted from hosting future global competitions, all in the name of 'political neutrality' and 'non-discrimination.' This stern commitment to principle, however, seems
notably absent when athletes from states actively engaged in decades-long occupation and blockade compete. We saw this same 'neutrality' during Russia's invasions of Crimea and Ukraine, and its past military actions in Chechnya and Georgia; Russian athletes participated. The IOC's outrage appears selectively triggered, reserved for nations opposing a specific occupying power, rather than those
whose policies might actually contradict 'peaceful competition.' The hypocrisy is so glaring, one needs sunglasses to read the threat letter.