A stroke of dignity at the Olympics
A swimmer from Israel – son of an Arab father and a Jewish mother – seeks to defy stereotypes of ethnicity and religion by appealing to values like respect.
Adam Manaana, a member of Israel's swim team at the Paris Olympics
Israeli Swimming Association
One popular aim in the Olympics is to upend stereotypes, starting with presumed limits on what the human body and mind can do. In every Games, sports records are broken, akin to NASA outdoing past feats in space. But what about social stereotypes? For an example, keep an eye on swimmer Adam Maraana during the XXXIII Olympiad in Paris.
First, though, beware of labels too easily attached to this athlete by journalists. One facile tag is that he is an “Arab citizen of Israel” and the first of that description to compete for his country in nearly half a century. Or that he is Muslim because his father is. Or that he is Jewish because his mother is. (His parents met on a beach in Haifa. Arabs are about 20% of Israel’s population.)
Mr. Maraana does identify as Israeli – the easiest route for him to get into the Olympics other than being a refugee, or via what the Olympics calls universality placement. Yet he also says, “I’m great proof of integration” between Jews and Arabs – a rather bold statement as the world debates what to do in Gaza once the war ends or how to prevent a wider conflict.
Most of all, he sees himself as a walkin’, talkin’ ambassador for two particular values: dignity and respect. “I assume that most people were taught at home what dignity is,” he told Haaretz. “The question is if they were taught what dignity is without discriminating based on religion, race and gender.”
“I was taught that regardless of who’s standing in front of me, he or she deserves my respect,” he said. “Ultimately, I’m ready to talk about the most sensitive issues, and I don’t hold back.”
One of his coaches, Carmel Levitan, says that his hopes of being an ambassador between religions and ethnicities is “a little naive, but it’s beautiful.” Yet within the Middle East, he has lately had plenty of company.
Since 2019, a wave of youth-led protests in several Muslim countries has carried a common complaint about political leaders: Stop divvying up people by religion or ethnicity when sharing power or distributing government services. A 2020 survey of Arab youth found most want public society defined by individual rights and shared interests.
The head of Israel’s Olympic Committee, Yael Arad, wrote on Facebook that Mr. Maraana’s ascent as a swimmer is more than a personal dream. It is also a “vision of coexistence in Israel regardless of religion, race and gender.” And it’s a vision held by someone who swims against stereotypes.