Tunisian tennis player, Ons Jabeur who ranks number seven in the world announced that she would donate part of her prize money to the Palestinians after her victory over Marketa Vondrousova in the group stage of the 2023 WTA finals.
Jabeur spoke about the children of Gaza as she burst into tears in an emotional scene caught on video where she made the announcement about Palestinians who have been suffering from the Israeli’s occupation continued aggression for weeks.
“I have decided to donate part of my prize money to help the Palestinians,” she said.
In Israel’s ongoing bombardment of Gaza, thousands of innocent people have been killed with most of them being women and children.
“I am very happy with the win, but I haven’t been happy lately, to be honest with you”, she said in the video. The situation in the world doesn’t make me happy”, she continued as she was overcome with emotion and was unable to speak further due to the audience’s enthusiasm.
However, she continued by saying “It is very tough seeing children and babies dying every day. It is heartbreaking”. According to Jabeur, this was not a political message, “it is just humanity, i want peace in this world,” she said.
On social media, the tennis player’s speech is captured on camera prompting praises from many of her for taking a brave humanitarian stance and standing with the Palestinians.
In a previous Instagram post, the Tunisian athlete expressed her support for the Palestinian cause and demanded a stop to violence against them. “What Palestinians have been going through for the past 75 years is indescribable. What innocent civilians are going through is indescribable; no matter what their religion is, or what their origin is. We all want to achieve peace. Peace is all we need and deserve. Stop the violence. Free Palestine,” she said.
As was to be expected, Israel took offense at Jabeur’s tweet and asked that the International Tennis Federation and the Women’s Tennis Association penalize the Tunisian champion for her support of the Palestinian people. She was charged with providing support to a “murderous terrorist organization” by the apartheid regime.
Nonetheless, the Ministry of Youth and Sports in Tunisia declared its unwavering support for their tennis champion. In fact, it emphasized in a press release that it fully and unconditionally supports any and all Tunisian athletes who back the Palestinian cause.
When Ons Jabeur defeated Russian Daria Kasatkina in the Birmingham Classic final in June 2021, she became the first Arab woman to win a WTA tournament.