Posted on 07/11/2005 11:06:12 AM PDT by SJackson
TEL AVIV, July 11 (Reuters) - The 17th Maccabiah Games, popularly known as the "Jewish Olympics", began on Monday with a burst of song, dance and fireworks, and unprecedented security for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Sharon, attending the quadrennial event in a Tel Aviv stadium, sat behind a newly erected wall of bulletproof glass in the dignitaries' box.
He has faced death threats over his plan to evacuate all 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza and four of 120 in the West Bank starting in mid-August.
The games were the biggest in Maccabiah history, with some 7,000 competitors from 55 countries participating and about 30,000 spectators, a sign of a sharp decline in Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed since a ceasefire was declared in February.
The previous Maccabiah in 2001 was postponed by two months following a series of Palestinian suicide bombings and shooting attacks.
Run loosely along Olympic guidelines, the 11-day event includes athletics, swimming, football and tennis as well as lawn bowls, chess, bridge, netball and cricket.
The games' image was badly tarnished eight years ago when a footbridge collapsed over a polluted river at the entrance to the Tel Aviv stadium where the opening ceremony was being held, killing four Australian competitors.
A Maccabiah Games organiser was convicted for negligence in the bridge collapse along with four other Israelis involved in building the structure.
The games were founded in 1932, 16 years before Israel's establishment. They have been held regularly, except between 1938 and 1950, the years corresponding with the Nazi Holocaust and the Arab-Israeli war that led to Israel's establishment in 1948.
Among the competitors this year were more than two dozen current or former Olympic, world or European champions.
Israel has long seen the Maccabiah, now more a Jewish jamboree than a top-class sports event, as a showcase of Jewish pride and solidarity and an opportunity to attract new immigrants from among the athletes.
"It's much more about bringing people together," said Yael Arad, Israel's first Olympic medal winner from 1992 and herself a former competitor in the Maccabiah women's judo events.
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Arab woman wins first Israeli gold
Jerusalem, July. 11 (PTI): Asala Shehadeh became the first Israeli Arab woman to win a gold medal at the 17th Maccabiah Games, commonly referred to as Jewish Olympics.
Shehadeh, 17, captured Israel's first gold medal of the Maccabiah Games in the women's swimming competition 200-meter breaststroke.
Although often called the Jewish Olympics, competition in the Maccabiah is open to Israeli citizens of all religions.
"The Maccabiah is not just for all Jews, it is for all Israelis as well, and I am a proud Israeli," Shehadeh told daily Yedioth Ahronoth.
Jewish athletes from all over the world have arrived in Israel to participate in the games held every four years.
If there has ever been a news story that should be fertile ground for stand-up comics, this is it.
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My cousin is playing tennis in the games this year representing Canada.....we are all very proud of him.
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