Competing in the judo competition at the European Open in Warsaw, an Israeli judoka defeated his Muslim opponent, who refused to shake his hand. Undaunted, the Israeli then raised his hand in the victory gesture popularized by returned hostage Emily Damari.
Israeli Judo athlete Yosef Simin won his match. But his MusIim opponent refused to shake his hand.
So Yosef marked his win with Emily Damari’s victory symbol. ????
King.
????Israel Hayom pic.twitter.com/I0MrB7ENaG
— dahlia kurtz ✡︎ דליה קורץ (@DahliaKurtz) February 23, 2025
After his Muslim opponent refused to shake his hand, Israeli judoka Joseph Simin makes hostage Emily Damari’s gesture of freedom. ????
What a Champ! pic.twitter.com/TxpuVW7Qp5
— Michael Dickson (@michaeldickson) February 24, 2025
Yosef Simin, who won the silver medal, defeated Islam Tsintsalashvili of Georgia in the round of 16. When Tsitsalashvili later refused to shake his hand, Simin responded by raising his hand in the symbol of the hostages, inspired by Damari.
Damari, taken hostage during the October 7, 2023 massacre in which the terrorist group Hamas slaughtered more than 1220 Israeli men, women, and children, spent 471 days held as a hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza before being released in January. She lost the third and fourth fingers on her left hand when Hamas shot her during the kidnapping, thus permitting her to hold up only her thumb, index finger, and little finger to wave after she was freed.
Thank you to everyone in the UK and around the world who supported the campaign to bring Emily home, and for all your messages here on X. You are amazing and we love you all ????
94 hostages still need us????️???? pic.twitter.com/nuRVj6n8tt
— Mandy Damari ???????? (@DamariMandy) January 21, 2025
“Supporters had added bandages to the ‘rock on’ emoji, which uses the same configuration of fingers, to transform Damari’s injury into a symbol of defiance,” The Jewish News noted. “Others adapted Damari’s gesture as well. A drawing of Damari’s hands demonstrating the Jewish priestly blessing circulated online, with words from the biblical benediction: ‘May God bless you and keep you.’ The drawing was attributed to Moshe Shapira, a Jerusalem artist and architect, whose son Aner was killed on Oct. 7 after saving the lives of others.”
In 2017, at the Abu Dhabi Grand Slam judo tournament, Israeli judoka Shir Rishoni won her match against her Moroccan opponent, Aziza Chakir, but when Rishoni approached Chakir to offer the typical handshake after the match, Chakir reacted with a hilarious display of moral cowardice: she ran away.
Israeli judo competitors have been snubbed not only by their opponents, who refuse to acknowledge their victories but also by the International Judo Federation itself, which refused to fly the Israel flag when Israeli athletes won any medal and refused to play the Israeli national anthem when Israeli judo champion Tal Flicker won the gold, prompting him to sing the Israel national anthem while the theme of the International Judo Federation was played.