From The Miami Herald: Windsurfing Olympian brings a "wave" of hope to Israel
Windsurfer Gal Fridman swears he felt all of Israel -- and the 11 slain Israelis from the 1972 Munich Olympics -- pumping his board for him on a sunny Wednesday afternoon. "As if I was somewhere else, and the board was moving by itself in the final meters."When he crossed the finish line and realized he had just won Israel's first gold medal, he wrapped himself in the Israeli flag and plunged into the water, his tears mixing with the salt water of the Saronic Gulf.
He cried again at the waterfront medal ceremony, when several hundred Israelis belted out "HaTikvah" (The Hope) as the Israeli flag was raised. Fridman, whose first name means "wave" in Hebrew, was mobbed by fans afterward, and security guards had to escort him to safety. [...]
Fridman's victory is a happy chapter in what has been a somber Olympic history for Israel, and he said he knows what he will do with his medal when he returns home. He will take it to the memorial for the murdered 11 Olympians and "show it to them, to show they are always with us, to show that we have moved on, and that we are winning."
We've created a lot of cartoons on the negative aspects of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. We wanted to create a cartoon on a positive note for a change. Our congratulations to Fridman and Israel for its first Olympic gold medal.
Posted by Forkum at August 27, 2004 11:05 AM
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