Update: It seems this is a non-story (hat tip: Bob).

TV footage from the World Swimming Championships in Doha, Qatar, shows the Israeli flag – complete with Star of David – beneath the image of Israeli swimmer Guy Barnea after he won a 200-meter butterfly heat. The footage was acquired by Israeli Channel 1 TV. Earlier, Barnea posted, “200 butterfly … What’s missing from the picture?” on Facebook, with a screenshot of the screen in the swimming auditorium. The reference was to the flag, which seemed to be missing the Star of David. But Barnea was mistaken. The Star of David was in a light shade of blue and somewhat faint, but it was definitely there, according to the full footage. The broadcast also used the initials “ISR” for Israel and identified Barnea by name. The post was later removed from Barnea’s Facebook page.

And now this from Barnea himself:







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Qatar are up to their old tricks again at the FINA World Swimming Championships, showing a graphic of an Israeli flag without the all-important Star of David in the middle, after Guy Barnea won a heat in the 200-meter butterfly.

Can someone tell #Qatar television that the Israeli flag should appear as it does on Guy Barnea’s cap? #winner pic.twitter.com/nDDduSR0Zo — Arthur Lenk (@ambassadorlenk) December 7, 2014

This is, of course, not the first time Qatar have pulled a stunt like this. At the FINA Swimming World Cup in October last year, they gave our flag the colorless treatment.

They later removed the Israeli flag in the physical sense.

Meanwhile, Qatar’s Doha News are either lying, or just behind the news cycle.

Israel participated in this year’s competition without any visible controversy. The country’s flag was seen flying outside the venue, and its swimmers were shown on broadcast monitors. Last year, the Jewish state’s flag was removed from outside the aquatic complex and the country’s swimmers were snubbed by broadcasters