“The Palestinians have been going through that for the past 74 years”
Squash star Ali Farag calling out Western hypocrisy after winning the Optasia championship
Egypt’s World No. 1 squash player Ali Farag exposed the double standards of the West and the media on the coverage of the war in Ukraine at an award ceremony held in London on Saturday, by saying that “Palestinians have been going through oppression for the past 74 years.”
Straight after winning the world squash tournament for Optasia, Farag said, “One more thing that I know is going to get me in trouble, but you know we’ve all seen what’s going on in the world at the moment with Ukraine and nobody is happy about what’s going on. No one should accept any killings in the world or any oppression.”
The squash star continued by adding that athletes were up until now not “allowed to speak about politics in sports but all of a sudden it’s allowed” and that he wanted to use his award ceremony speech as an opportunity to highlight the plight of the Palestinians due to Israeli occupation.
“We have never been allowed to speak about politics in sports but all of a sudden it’s allowed,” and, “So now that we are allowed, I hope that people also look at the oppression everywhere in the world. Palestinians have been going through that for the past 74 years.”
His speech on Ukraine and Palestine, which had gone viral on social media, was unsurprisingly removed from the highlights of the match on the YouTube channel of the Professional Squash Association.
