Israeli Arab Kickboxer Wins Gold, Calls for Peace After Opponent Refuses Handshake

Israeli kickboxer Loai Sakas expressed his joy at winning a gold medal on Thursday at the world championships in Turkey by wrapping himself in the Israeli flag in the ring. "I am first and foremost an Israeli citizen. [...] I don’t care about Judaism, Islam, Christianity or the Druze - I represent the country and I want everyone here to live in peace with each other," he said in an interview with Channel 12.

This Christian Arab from the town of Kafr Yasif in northern Israel will long remember his participation in this competition. Especially the incident that offended him. Loai beat his Moroccan opponent in the semi-finals, but the latter did not show any fair play. He refused to shake his hand in protest. "The Moroccan delegation, with its entourage, also shouted all kinds of things during the fight and staged a small ’demonstration’, but I obviously didn’t react," said the gold medalist.

"I am proud of our kickboxing team, the athletes who have done remarkable work and represented the State of Israel with great pride. I expect athletes from all countries to respect our team, and for the fights to systematically end with a handshake," said Arik Kaplan, director of the Israeli kickboxing association.