Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Tennis athlete from Tunisia, Ons Jabeur, said he would donate part of his prize money from the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) tournament to the residents of Gaza, Palestine, who are being attacked by Israeli army brutality.
Jabeur couldn’t hold back his tears when interviewed on the field after winning the match against Marketa Vondrousova in Cancun, Mexico on Wednesday (1/11/2023).
“I’m very happy with this win, but lately I haven’t been happy,” Jabeur said when asked if – as Tunisia’s unofficial “Minister of Happiness” – she was happy to avenge her Wimbledon loss to Vondrousova in the final.
“The situation in the world makes me unhappy,” he said in a choked voice. Jabeur moved slightly away from the microphone while sobbing.
“It is very difficult to see children and babies dying every day. The situation is sad, so I decided to donate part of my prize money to help Palestinians,” he said, to applause from the audience.
 Photo: AP/Eduardo Munoz AlvarezOns Jabeur, of Tunisia, returns to Marie Bouzkova, of the Czech Republic, during the third round of the US Open tennis championships, Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez) |
“I can’t be happy just with this win, despite the circumstances. Sorry guys, I should be talking about tennis, but I’m so frustrated looking at the videos every day. I’m sorry – this is not a political message, it’s just a humanitarian message. I want peace in this world and that’s all.”
In the post-match press conference, Jabeur also said that he had difficulty sleeping after watching horrific photos and videos from the war in Gaza.
“I try to avoid social media as much as possible, but it’s very difficult,” he told reporters.
“You see horrific photos and videos every day – it doesn’t allow me to sleep or recover well.”
Latest report Al Jazeera said at least 9,000 people had died in Gaza as a result of Israeli bombardment since the Palestinian armed group Hamas carried out a deadly attack in Israel on October 7. Many of the dead were children and women.
The figure of On Jabeur, a generous Tunisian tennis player
Jabeur herself is the only Arab and Muslim tennis player to qualify for the women’s singles Grand Slam final.
After pledging to donate part of his prize money to the Palestinians, Jabeur said the donation “will mean nothing to them at the moment”, but he hoped the aid would go some way towards easing the suffering of the residents.
Jabeur has plans to form his own foundation to help people in need.
“It’s part of my plan to not only be an athlete, but also be a good ambassador and a good human being because after all, the tennis career is going to stop and all I want to do is help people in different situations.”
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
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