Refused to shake hands with her Israeli opponent at the European Championships

The protest by our national athlete Tuğçe Beder, who took to the mat at the European Judo Championships held in the French city of Montpellier, has become a topic of discussion.

Beder, who lost the match to Tamar Malka, broke the traditional post-match handshake custom and left her Israeli opponent's hand hanging in the air.

The German media, in particular, criticized Beder's action in harsh terms.

In a report featured on its website, the newspaper Bild highlighted the national judoka's defeat by stating, "Beder refused to shake hands after her defeat." The newspaper used the phrase, "A concrete scandal just a few weeks after Hamas's brutal terror attack on Israel on October 7," in its report.

While the report emphasized that this is not the first time anti-Semitic incidents, in which Israeli athletes are boycotted especially by Arab athletes, have been encountered, it claimed that "What is new is that a Turkish athlete is involved in such an incident for the first time," and portrayed Beder as anti-Semitic.

News Source: 12punto