Eight Palestinian athletes taking part in the Paris Olympics will be symbols of “resistance,” a Palestinian minister says.
The athletes are preparing for the start of the Paris Games on July 26 in a “very dark moment in our history,” says Palestinian Authority minister of state for foreign affairs Varsen Aghabekian Shahin.
“You are not just athletes, you are also… symbols of Palestinian resistance,” Aghabekian adds.
Olympic committee head Jibril Rajoub says: “We want this participation to be a message from the Palestinians to the world that it is time for them to be free in their homeland.”
“Through this participation, we want to present the suffering of the Palestinian people and the unprecedented killing taking place in Gaza,” he adds.
Rajoub says getting athletes to Paris “is already a victory.”
The eight will compete in athletics (track and field), swimming, archery, taekwondo, judo, and boxing. One secured a place through regular qualifying and seven were given special invitations.
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
— Gabriella Jacobs, multimedia journalist
Support our work
Support our work
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
From the Liveblog of
Sunday, July 14, 2024
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
