The president of the Palestinian Olympic Committee denounces the silence of international sports authorities. The representation has called for the exclusion of Israel from the Olympic Games, accusing it in particular of not respecting the Olympic truce.
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As the Paris Olympics began more than a week ago, the bombs continue to fall on Gaza. The president of the Palestinian Olympic Committee, Jibril Rajoub, nevertheless came with eight athletes. He claims that some athletes died in Gaza, others were unable to leave the enclave.
” In Gaza, all the sports facilities have been destroyed. Because of the Israeli blockade, we were only able to get out one athlete, Mohammad Hammada, who was unable to qualify for the Olympics because he lost 20 kg due to starvation. Even in the West Bank, there is no more sports activity. We can’t even move around. ” he laments.
In a first formal letter, addressed before the opening of the Olympic Games on July 26 to the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, as well as to Gianni Infantino, his counterpart at the International Football Federation via the Palestinian Federation, it was observed that ” The IOC and FIFA have in the past acted decisively against violations of the Olympic truce “, proof ” The suspension of Russian teams by the International Olympic Committee in response to the invasion of Ukraine “.
The inability of Ukrainians to prepare fairly for the Olympic Games The Russian invasion was one of the arguments given to justify the suspension of the Russian teams.
A double standard, according to the Palestinian Committee
” We have not received any response ” to this mail, despite ” the emergency ” of the situation, assured Jibril Rajoub on Tuesday July 30 during a press conference in Paris, saying he was considering ” all options » legal means to bring his request from the Swiss Federal Court to the European Court of Human Rights.
Jibril Rajoub also denounces the positions taken by some Israeli athletes in favor of the offensive on Gaza and claims that some are even members of the army. For him, This double standard between Israel and Russia is a political question. Being politically neutral and being passive are two different things. “, added Jibril Rajoub.
The International Olympic Committee denies this, saying that given the number of conflicts in the world, if it had to listen to all the complaints, no one would be there. For its part, the Israeli Olympic Committee refuses to comment on the matter.
Since the fall, the IOC has tried to stay away from the war between Israel and Hamas by hiding behind its ” two-state solution “, since the Israeli and Palestinian National Olympic Committees (NOCs) have coexisted since 1995, a legacy of the Oslo peace process.
While the IOC had reacted immediately to the Ukrainian conflict, banning Russians from world sport for over a year, Thomas Bach considered that ” the situation between Israel and Palestine (was) completely different ” and did not call for any sporting sanction.
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