For the head of the Committee, Jibril Rajoub, there will be a great deal of “attention” and pressure on the eight athletes, symbols of a people at war. For the eighth time since Atlanta 1996, they will be present at the Games in various sports, from swimming to boxing. Because of fears of attacks, the commemoration ceremony for the 11 Israeli athletes killed by the Palestinians during “Black September” will take place in a hidden location.
Jerusalem () – The eight Palestinian athletes at the Paris Olympics, scheduled from July 26 to August 11, will be a symbol of “resistance” in the eyes of the world, in the face of the drama unfolding in Loopthe scene of Israel’s war against Hamas in response to the terrorist attack on 7 October. This was the opinion of a Palestinian minister yesterday on the occasion of the departure of the official delegation from the West Bank to France, the host country of the 33rd edition, exactly one hundred years after the last time in 1924 (the first in 1900). It will be the eighth time that Palestinian representatives have been present at the Games since 1996, but the first time that, according to the head of the Olympic Committee, Jibril Rajoub, there will be great “attention” and pressure on the athletes.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian Shahin stressed yesterday at a public meeting in Ramallah that the athletes are preparing for the start of the Games at a “very dark moment in our history”. Addressing the delegation, he added that “they are not only athletes, they are also… symbols of the Palestinian resistance”. Meanwhile, the French organisers have reinforced security measures due to the conflict in the Strip. “We want,” the head of the Olympic Committee continued, “this participation to be a message from the Palestinians to the world that it is time for them to be free in their homeland”. “With this participation we want to present the suffering of the Palestinian people and the unprecedented massacres taking place in Gaza.”
Rajoub, who has been at the centre of controversy in the past as recalled by the Times of Israel (TOI) for praising the Munich terrorists of 1972, later reported that some 400 athletes, coaches and sports officials from Gaza have been killed or wounded since the beginning of the bloody war. The attacks in southern Israel have also killed 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on Israeli data. The military offensive by the army with the Star of David (IDF) has killed at least 38,584 people in the Strip, also mostly civilians, according to the count published by the Ministry of Health of the extremist movement.
Majed Abu Marahil, a long-distance runner and the first Palestinian to compete at the Olympics in Atlanta in 1996, died in June. According to authorities, he died of untreated kidney failure because Gaza’s hospitals were devastated by the conflict. Rajoub concluded by mentioning that bringing athletes to Paris “is already a victory”. They will be present in athletics, swimming, archery, taekwondo, judo and boxing. One won a place through regular qualifiers and seven received special invitations. Among them today is swimmer Valerie Tarazi (pictured), 24, a dual US-Palestinian national, winner of last year’s Arab Games in Algeria. “Being in Paris,” she said, “for Palestine is very important, participating in a world swimming competition at a time when there are no places to train is surreal.”
During the Games, in a climate of war from Gaza to Ukraine (with Russian and Belarusian athletes not allowed to compete with flags and anthems), 30,000 police and gendarmes will be deployed in the French capital, along with some 20,000 soldiers to ensure security. In addition, between 17,000 and 22,000 private contractors are expected to be deployed in the Olympic sites and fan zones.
For security reasons, the organisers have reportedly decided to hold the commemoration ceremony for the victims of the 1972 Munich Olympic terrorist attack outside the Olympic Village, at a secret location. There are fears that the event, considered highly sensitive, could be targeted by extremists. According to Israel Hayom, the ceremony was initially scheduled for 24 July at Paris City Hall, but was cancelled. Instead, an alternative, smaller ceremony with fewer participants will be held at a location that will not be disclosed to the public. The Israeli Olympic Committee denied reports that the ceremony had been moved due to threats; on the contrary, it was merely a logistical problem, as the specific permits required to hold the event in the municipality could not be issued in the days leading up to the Olympic opening ceremony.
The ceremony commemorates the 11 Israeli victims of the 1972 Munich Games, who were shot by militants from the Palestinian group “Black September”; a commando infiltrated the Olympic village, kidnapped the athletes and killed 11 of them before being arrested. The first commemoration was held at the Tokyo 2020 Games. The decision to promote an official event for the victims of the attack was taken by the IOC president after a campaign by the families of the victims.
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