However, I was a bit more surprised to learn that many Iranians disagree with the boycott and with their government's policy toward Israel. Perhaps I should not be surprised. Iran was an ally of Israel until 1979, and Iranians and Israelis had ample opportunity to meet each other and form personal frienships.

I was pleased to find that Iranian opposition to the boycott was pointed out by an Iranian blogger, Hossein Derakshan. Hossein wrote:

Based on the comments people have left in a BBC Persian story (which I hope somebody could translate some of it to English), and a small poll (online polls are not reliable, I know) I've put in my Persian blog, I have to say that I've never seen Iranians more frustrated by the irrational policy of Iranian government against Israel. More than 82 percent of all my readers disagree or strongly disagree with Arash Miresmalili's decision.

So I guess this is the best time to start a grassroots campaign to bring the two nations together, in any way we can. (As I wrote before, I guess getting an Iranian to blog about his or her life in Israel and the Iranians who live there would be very effective.)

Some analysts say that the remaining legitimacy of the increasingly fundamentalist regime of Iran, is based on a few taboos such as Islamic Hijab (or dress code), and Israel. I presonally feel I can have an impact on breaking the second taboo only by using the Internet.

Beliveing that one of the biggest problems of the Iranian people, both internally and internationaly, steming from the Israel issue, I guess I'm ready to take the risk and start something about it. This is what any patriotic Iranian should do, I think.

I do not know if Iran's troubles stem in the main from its attitude toward Israel, rather than from its attacks on the "Great Satan" in the US, kidnapping of US embassy personnel in 1979, humiliation of the US and generally trying to injure US interests. Any relatively small country that writes "Death to the USA" on its missiles is probably asking for trouble.

However, this initiative is warmly welcomed, and bloggers and others are invited to take up the cause of Iranian-Israeli friendship. I have always been a firm believer that dialogue and friendship at the personal level can help break down barriers of hate and sabotage the aims of totalitarian regimes. Everyone who is a friend of democracy and peace should extend the hand of friendship to those who oppose intolerance and war mongering in their own country.

Ami Isseroff

Judoka Praised by Iranian Government
Miresmaeili Called 'Champion' of Games

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6582-2004Aug16.html
By Craig Whitlock
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, August 17, 2004; Page D07

ATHENS, Aug. 16 -- The Iranian government on Monday praised a member of its judo team for avoiding a match with an Israeli opponent, saying it was firmly opposed to any of its athletes competing against "the Zionist regime" during the Olympics or other international events.

The International Judo Federation said it would open a formal investigation that could lead to possible sanctions against the Iranian squad. Officials with the International Olympic Committee resisted calls to address the controversy, declining to say whether the entire Iranian team could be penalized for its policy of refusing to compete for political reasons.

"This issue hasn't actually come to our level," said Giselle Davies, a spokeswoman for the IOC, which has the authority to bar nations from participating. "The federation says it is investigating. At present, the IOC is not involved."

The political spat began Sunday, when former world champion Arash Miresmaeili showed up more than four pounds overweight for his scheduled judo match against an Israeli, Ehud Vaks. The Iranian athlete, who was heavily favored and considered a contender to win a gold medal, was disqualified on technical grounds but had been quoted previously as saying he might pull out of the match because his opponent was from Israel.

Judo officials at first said they were surprised that Miresmaeili -- the flag bearer for Iran during the Opening Ceremonies -- would fail to make his weight but added they had no proof that politics were involved. But Iranian leaders at the highest levels of the government in Tehran soon made clear that politics were indeed at the heart of the case.

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami was quoted by the state news agency as saying that Miresmaeili's actions would be "recorded in the history of Iranian glories" and declared that the nation considered him to be "the champion of the 2004 Olympic Games." Iranian Olympic team chairman Nassrollah Sajadi told the Sharq newspaper that the government should give the athlete a $115,000 bonus.

On Monday, a government spokesman said other Iranian athletes would be expected to do the same if confronted with an Israeli opponent. Iran does not recognize the existence of the Israeli state.

"Our policy is not to recognize the Zionist regime in any international event," the spokesman, Abdullah Ramazanzadeh, said at a news conference in Tehran. "We cannot accept the presence of anyone in international events under the flag of that regime."

Miresmaeili has given different accounts of whether he voluntarily withdrew or if he was ordered to report overweight. The Iranian news agency quoted him as saying, "Although I have trained for months and am in shape, I refused to face my Israeli rival in sympathy with the oppressed Palestinian people."

During the Opening Ceremonies on Friday, the Israeli team received a tepid reception from the 77,000 spectators. In contrast, the much smaller Palestinian team strolled around the stadium to rousing cheers.

Eddy Koaz, the chief of Israel's judo governing body, called on international judo officials to penalize Iran for refusing to compete. "We cannot let them just do it, because if they do it and nothing happens, other countries will do it again," he told Reuters.

Rabbi Marvin Hier, dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, faxed a letter to IOC officials demanding that they take action as well.

"If the integrity of the Olympics is going to remain intact for future generations, the IOC must act," he said in a telephone interview. "This was clearly orchestrated and is the opinion of the government of Iran. It has to be nipped in the bud. Other nations are waiting to see how the IOC acts."

Michel Brousse, a spokesman for the International Judo Federation, said the panel's executive committee would conduct a formal investigation. He said the group had received conflicting information from Iranian athletic officials about whether Miresmaeili had botched his weight test on purpose.

"It is important to know if he was overweight intentionally or accidentally," Brousse said. "Everybody is innocent until proven guilty. We have to make sure it was not accidental."

"We are studying this case very seriously," Brousse added. "No discrimination -- not racial, not political, not religious -- can be tolerated. This is clear."

Vax, the Israeli judo contender, received a bye in the competition after his Iranian opponent defaulted. He lost in the second round, losing to a Muslim from Algeria.