Israeli Athletes March in Olympic Ceremony
Marching Proud: The Israeli Olympic team carries the flag at the Opening Ceremonies of the London Games. Image by getty images
Israel’s Shahar Zubari led his country’s team into the opening ceremony of the Olympics on Friday night, bearing the Israeli flag.
With a dyed-blue Star of David shaven into his hair, the 25-year-old windsurfer who brought home a bronze medal from Beijing in 2008, lead the 38-strong Israeli delegation into the stadium.
Immediately after the team was shown on Israeli television, the faces of 11 Israeli Olympians who were slain in the Munich Massacre 40 years ago were shown. Their names were read out by the commentators and, following that, 30 seconds of silence were held in their commemoration.
London 2012 will mark Israel’s 15th Olympic Games. The country has sent a delegation every year since its debut at Helsinki in 1952, except in 1980, when it participated in the American-led boycott of Moscow.
The largest Israeli delegation was the one that traveled to Beijing in 2008, numbering 43 athletes. The smallest was sent to Melbourne in 1956 and numbered only three.
For more go to Haaretz.com
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
