UAE Business Magnate Khalaf Al-Habtoor: We Want Peace with Israel and Should Allow Israelis to Participate in Sports Events in the Arab World

UAE business magnate Khalaf Al-Habtoor said that he believed Israelis should be allowed to participate in sports events in the Arab world. "Let them play. We in the Arab world want to have peace with Israel in the future," he said. In a video uploaded to his Twitter account on March 2, Al-Habtoor called to stop referring to Israel as a "criminal enemy," to use modern logic and identify the interests of the Arab world and the GCC, and "pay no heed to what all the hypocrites and charlatans have to say."

Following is a transcript:

Khalaf Al-Habtoor: I’m an avid sports follower. I like tennis, world soccer, and so on. We should not mix sports with politics. I see people on Twitter say: “They let Zionist Israeli kids participate [in sports events in the Arab world]”. Brothers, let them participate in these events. Let them play. We in the Arab world want to have peace with Israel in the future. We extended our hand in peace to Israel, but it was rejected. Never mind, let us prove to the world that we are people of peace, instead of referring to them as Zionists and calling Israel a criminal enemy. We are sick and tired of this kind of talk. Let us employ modern logic, and identify our interests as the Arab world and the GCC. We should pay no heed to what all the hypocrites and charlatans have to say.

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