There is still demand for Israel to be excluded from the world’s largest athletic competition only a day before the official opening of the Paris Olympic Games. A worldwide boycott of Israeli state due to the horrors occurring in the Gaza Strip is becoming more and more popular among sportsmen and rights organizations. Since October 7, 2023, almost 39,000 Palestinian people, mostly civilians, have lost their lives as a result of the Gaza War.
In a communication few days ago, the Palestine Olympic Committee requested that Thomas Bach, the head of IOC, exclude Israeli team of athletes from the Games. Social media camps and appeals have accelerated in the interim. The US-based human rights organization Avaaz collected more than 600,000 signatories on a petition. The petition asked that Israel be prohibited by the IOC until the Israeli government stopped attacking defenseless people in Gaza.
Conversely, pro-Palestine demonstrators have taken to the streets, including protests in Paris and at the IOC offices in Lausanne, Switzerland. However, experts advise ongoing agitation against Israel’s presence and statements of solidarity with Gaza during the Games, which begin on July 26 while there is still no sign of an embargo on Israel.
A peace campaigner has been vocally opposing Israel and thinks it ought to be prohibited from competing in the Olympic Games. Rebecca O’Keeffe believes that
Palestinian sportsmen and trainers have been the subject of colonial Israeli violence and assassination for decades; this has only gotten worse during the continuing massacre.
Additionally, Israel maintains activities in illegal settlements and has turned Palestinian athletic fields into large-scale incarceration facilities.
The IOC came under fire from detractors for saying nothing. They contend that despite its assertions of political impartiality and refusal to allow political protests, its actual position reveals obvious moral relativism and discrimination.
Observers claim that the IOC’s earlier decision established a precedent and provided convincing evidence for Israel’s exclusion from the Games. Two instances of prohibitions have been given: the recent one on Russia following Ukraine war and an older ban on Apartheid South Africa.
It appears to be a straightforward case in light of Israel’s Olympic Convention breaches and the two verdicts from the International Court of Justice regarding possible genocide and unlawful colonization.
In order to bring attention to the topic of Palestinian rights, campaigners in France are planning loud and boisterous public demonstrations throughout the Olympic season. The issue of Gaza’s devastation by the Israeli military has been deliberately sidestepped by both the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The conduct goes against the letter and the spirit of its founding papers, according to analysts.
Analysts also point out ways that competitors and nations taking part might put stress on Israel and the IOC. The IOC has a set of standards that describe athletes’ freedom of speech, advise familiarizing oneself with one’s rights, and operate within those limits to apply influence as necessary.
As long as they stayed within the bounds of free speech, athletes have the freedom to bring up Palestine in social media posts, press meetings, and media conversations. The overall atmosphere of the Olympic Games for Israel and its squad of athletes will unfold in a few days, having its impact on the international exposure to the ten-month-long evolution of events in Palestinian lands.
