Politics and sports are not supposed to be mixed, especially politics with an international sporting event for athletes with a disability. However, when the parties involved are Muslims and Arab states, plus Israel, then the twain invariably meet. So, as Malaysia has been stripped of hosting the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships for refusing to let Israelis compete, Kuala Lumpur upended the oft-stated adage. But at the same time, the issue is not about Israeli athletes competing per se, but what is happening in the occupied territories, a realism that is much bigger than a sports event.

Malaysia, which is a majority Muslim country, banned the athletes because of what Kuala Lumpur sees as Israel’s poor treatment of Palestinians. Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamed recently said Malaysia would have “lost our moral conscience and moral compass” if hosting an international sporting event was “more important than safeguarding the interest of our Palestinian brothers and sisters who are being mutilated time after time again”. Mahathir argued that it was his country’s “right” to deny entry to Israeli nationals and that “a country has the right to keep its borders closed to certain people; that’s why borders are there.”

The International Paralympic Committee said in its statement that in 2017, when it signed the contract with Malaysia, the government had provided assurances that all athletes would be able to participate without discrimination. But a regime change that saw Mahathir rise again to power meant those assurances were withdrawn.

Muslim and Arab states often boycott Israeli competitors. An Egyptian judoka refused to shake hands with his Israeli opponent at the Rio Olympics. Tunisia’s tennis federation ordered the country’s top player to withdraw from a match against an Israeli opponent at a tournament in 2013. In 2009, the UAE denied a visa to an Israeli tennis player. Israeli judokas were also banned from flying the Israeli flag and playing the national anthem at a 2015 tournament in Abu Dhabi which incurred a $300,000 fine.

For some people, the Malaysia ban on disabled Israeli athletes was unfair, targeting a group that has little to do with Israeli practices and policies. To them, the decision risks damaging Malaysia’s reputation and contradicts the promise of a new, inclusive Malaysia. In this context, the IPC’s decision to strip Malaysia of its hosting rights was a repudiation of its move and an international embarrassment.

However, Malaysia should not treat Israel differently because it’s a sports event. This is about the Arab and Muslim stand to support Palestine’s independence against an occupier who has killed and maimed thousands of Palestinians since Israel came into being in 1948 and stole their land.

Israel claims the ban would hinder Israel’s future sporting achievements. Who cares about Israel’s sports prowess when until April last year reports said about 30 Palestinian athletes had been injured after being shot by occupying soldiers? Why allow Israeli athletes into Malaysia when the careers of Palestinian sportsmen and women are over because of Israeli bullets?

Why should Malaysia allow Israelis into the country when Israel does not allow Palestinians back into their country? Why should Malaysia be ashamed of banning Israel when Israel is not ashamed of occupying Palestine?

If anything, Malaysia’s decision to bar Israeli athletes will once again put the spotlight on the brutality of Israel’s occupation in Palestine, where occupation is becoming indistinguishable from annexation. That’s why Malaysia must become vocal in international forums, sports and others, to demand justice and protection for the occupied people of Palestine, the longest occupation in history. That, in itself, is an Olympic-size crime.

Politics and sports should not be mixed. Don’t ruin the latter with the former. But when it is about Israel, it is also about Palestine. Just as Malaysia may be accused of acting against the Olympic spirit, it should also be hailed for upholding the human spirit.