Palestinian Olympic head decries IOC ‘double standards’ for letting Israel compete
Jibril Rajoub says Israel has no right to compete due to war in Gaza after Olympic committee rejects his request to ban Jewish state from Paris Games
PARIS, France — The head of the Palestine Olympic Committee criticized “double standards” from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Thursday over its decision to allow Israel to compete at the Paris Games.
Palestinian Olympic head Jibril Rajoub demanded a boycott in a letter to the IOC earlier this week, which was rejected by the head of the international Olympics body, Thomas Bach.
“This confirms that there are international institutions that insist on applying double standards and not adhering to the Olympic Charter, laws and regulations, or morals,” Rajoub said as he arrived at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle Airport with the Palestinian sporting delegation.
Around a hundred people were there to welcome the athletes with dates and shouts of “Free, Free Palestine!”
“The Israelis or the Israeli Olympic Committee have lost the moral, sports, humanitarian and legal right to participate,” Rajoub added, claiming Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza amounted to “crimes of genocide, ethnic cleansing.”
The war erupted when Hamas-led terrorists rampaged through southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages to Gaza while committing brutal atrocities.
Israel then launched a military operation aiming to eliminate the terror group and free the captives. Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 327.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 39,000 people in the Strip have been killed or are presumed dead in the fighting so far, though the toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and gunmen. Israel says it has killed some 15,000 combatants in battle and some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel during the October 7 attack.
Around 400 Palestinian athletes have been killed, while others have been unable to train or travel because of Israeli bombing or restrictions, the Palestine Olympic Committee says.
The IDF has not directly commented on the Palestinian Olympic Committee’s claims. In response to reports of civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit has said the military carries out “many warning measures before its actions in order to avoid harming uninvolved people,” and that “every strike by the IDF is based on intelligence indications of terror infrastructure or the presence of terrorists in the area of the attack.” It accuses Hamas of using “the citizens of Gaza as human shields for its terror needs, in total violation of international law.”
Russia has been banned from the Paris Olympics by the IOC for violating the Olympic charter when it annexed Ukrainian sporting organizations after the Kremlin’s 2022 invasion.
The IOC has in the past denied that Israel is in violation of the Olympic charter and stressed the relationship between Israeli and Palestinian Olympic Committees.
“We have two National Olympic Committees, that is the difference with the world of politics, and in this respect, both have been living in peaceful coexistence,” IOC chief Thomas Bach said in Paris on Tuesday.
He added: “We are not in the political business, we are there to accomplish our mission to get the athletes together.”
As he arrived on Thursday, Yazan Al Bawwab, a Palestinian swimmer, said he wanted to raise awareness about the Palestinian cause and the suffering in Gaza.
“As an athlete… it’s not about the medals. It’s about reaching the most people, about the Palestinian cause,” he said. “If a medal gets me more awareness, that’s what I care about.
“Sports is a tool for peace also, it’s a way to spread my message to the world about Palestinians and that we’re suffering.”
Israel’s 88-strong delegation arrived in Paris earlier this week and the men’s soccer team played its first game on Wednesday evening, drawing 1-1 with Mali.
Whistles were heard during the Israeli national anthem at the Parc des Princes stadium and Palestinian flags were waved by a handful of spectators, leading to angry exchanges between them and Israeli fans.
