Forget Kiss Me Kate; Iranian Athlete Won’t Even Shake Her Hand
Another Iranian athlete has caused controversy at an international sporting event, this time for refusing to shake hands with the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton.
Iranian athlete Mehrdad Karam Zadeh refused to shake hands with the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, after he was presented with a silver medal at the Paralympics.
The 40-year-old discuss thrower clutched his hands close to his chest and offered a polite bow towards Ms Middleton after receiving the silver medal from her.
Iranian cultural tradition dictates that men are forbidden from having physical contact with an unrelated female.
A representative from the palace told the Daily Mail that the Duchess of Cambridge has been briefed on the matter, and that she should not expect to receive a handshake.
“Many male athletes from Islamic countries do not shake hands in public with women they are not related to for cultural and religious reasons,” the palace representative said.
The duchess was introduced to a huge cheer from a capacity crowd, but when she presented Zadeh with his medal it was noticeable that the 40 year-old athlete failed to shake her hand.
Bronze medallist Lezheng Wang and Davies both shook her hand after receiving their medals, with the Welshman exchanging words with the duchess, who has been a regular spectator at the Paralympics.
The Iranian delegation in London were unavailable for comment when contacted this morning, but they have told Games organisers that Zadeh’s actions were not politically motivated.
According to sources the Iranian’s actions were based on gender, with cultural convention preventing a man from shaking the hand of a woman.
The Iranians have said that had the medal been presented by a man Zadeh would have shaken his hand.
Unless that man was Israeli, of course.
Or presumably Prince Harry.
Update: Meanwhile, I’m surprised the Iranians aren’t boycotting the Paralympics.
About the Author
An Australian immigrant to Israel, Aussie Dave has been blogging since early 2003.Filed Under: Aussie Dave
Some culture, coming from the land of the 30-minute marriage.
So? Would an Orthodox Jew who is observant of sh’mirat negi’ah receive the same scorn?
an entire group of chasidim in upstate ny, used to kiss hillary clinton’s ass regularly
mohmadeans are not shomer negiya…its all for show
Joshua is right. There are far too many examples of Jews striving to be so “with the times” that they’re willing to throw authentic Jewish Law under the bus.
Some Jews don’t want to be like “those horrid Christians,” so they support abortion. But Jewish Law says abortion is murder except for saving the mother’s life.
Some Jews don’t want to be like “those primitive fundamentalist Muslims” (always with an emphasis on “fundamentalist,” lest they be accused of “Islamophobia”), so they condemn the ideal of a boy and a girl having no physical contact before they’re married. But Jewish Law requires this, for the rank and file at that, not just as an act of hasidut (doing over and above what is required).
Some Jews have the slogan, “Ethnic cleansing is not a Jewish value,” and think that booting all the Arab colonists out of the Land of Israel should be out of bounds for discussion or even thought, let alone practice. But Jewish Law insists there’s no other way for the Jewish nation to secure a peaceful existence in a state of their own on their one and only piece of land in the world.
Jewish Law speaks with its own, eternal voice, and that voice is not always Politically Correct. The fact that “the times” do not look favorably on some of its precepts is no more to the point than the fact that statue-worship was all the rage while monotheism wasn’t in Antiquity.
Perhaps not on this blog, but in the media – yes. In May this year, Laurette Onkelinx, the Belgian Minister of Health met with her Israeli counterpart, Yakov Litzman, a Hasidic Jew, who politely refused to shake her hand, and explained that religious stricture prevented him from doing so. Ms Onkelinx was most indignant, wrote about this scandal on her official Facebook page, compared Litzman’s actions to an Iranian official and went to town about the “fundamentalist attitude” and treatment of women.
Maybe he was afraid that if he touched the Duchess his wanking hand might fall off!