Middle Eastern paralympic athlete 'refuses' to shake hands with the Duchess
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An Iranian Paralympic athlete “refused” to shake hands with Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge and wife of Prince William, when she presented him with his silver medal on Sunday. Or so Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper reported this week.
The 40-year-old Mehrdad Karam Zadeh did not offer his hand to the Duchess as she presented medals for the discus event Sunday. Instead, he clutched his hands close to his chest and bowed.
Middleton reached to shake hands with gold medal winner Aled Davies of Great Britain and bronze winner Lezheng Wang, from China.
But she did offer her hand to Zadeh either, since she had reportedly been briefed about the convention, observed in a number of Muslim cultures, which prohibits contact between unrelated men and women.
Middleton was reportedly “happy to accept [Zadeh's] wishes,” and “considered it an honor to present the medals.”
Do you think Mehrdad should have shook hands with Kate? Or was it better to stick to his principles? Tell us what you think below.
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The question "Do you think Mehrdad should have shook hands with Kate?" is in itself wrong because you are putting him under the spotlight as if he made a mistake in doing what he did. The Duchess is the one to be under the spotlight here. She's a public figure and she was certainly briefed of the Muslim custom prior to meeting the athlete. Therefore, the question should be directed to her wrong action and not to the athlete's action. However, knowing the Arab stand against Iranians, I am not surprised the question is twisted and biased at the root.