Algerian Minister of Youth and Sports Syed Ali Khaldi said that "Palestine is a red line" in the first official comment on the incident of the Olympic Committee President Mustafa Peraf standing for the Israeli anthem.
Algerian media circulated a video clip showing Peraf standing up to salute the Israeli anthem, which was played during a judo tournament in the French capital, Paris.
The behavior of the President of the Algerian Olympic Committee caused widespread popular anger, and many parties expressed their condemnation of this position, which runs counter to Algeria's policy of rejecting any normalization with Israel.
The angry reactions prompted Birav to submit his resignation as president of the Algerian Olympic Committee.
The Algerian Minister of Youth and Sports said yesterday that "Palestine is a red line", commenting on this issue, and stressed that "the new Algeria is based on renewal and circulation," referring to the length of time Perav spent at the head of the local Olympic Committee.
Perav holed up the Olympic Charter - which prohibits the interference of the authorities in the work of the Olympic Committees - to face the pressures he was subjected to in the past months in order to push him to resign because of issues raised by a number of his opponents, led by former Minister of Youth and Sports Abdel Raouf Barnawi.
The issue of standing up to the Israeli anthem came to be the straw that broke Biraf's back after 17 years at the head of the Algerian Olympic Committee.