The 2024 Paris Olympics is making a historic bid among a long lineage of international games, from its Seine cleaning efforts and integration of AI, to the first time the competition has achieved gender parity among athletes.
Its leaders are also making claims for international camaraderie amid global turmoil, including the continued barrage of Palestine by Israel’s armed forces. Athlete delegations from both Israel and Palestine will be competing in Paris, under close watch from activists around the world.
Following a parade of nations and several performances, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach ushered in the games saying, “Let us celebrate this Olympic spirit of living life in peace, as the one and only humankind, united in all our diversity.”
One thing is certain: Supporters around the globe will be watching athletes representing the war-torn region. The opening ceremony has set a tense tone for Israel’s reception.
The Palestinian delegations makes historic arrival
The delegation for Palestine, recognized as part of the IOC in 1995 and debuted in 1996, sends eight competitors to the 2024 Paris games. Athletes will compete in athletics, boxing, swimming, judo, taekwondo, and shooting.
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Arriving in Paris on Thursday July 25, the group of athletes were met with a crowd of supporters, many urging the international bodies in attendance to recognize the Palestinian state as well as its athletes. “France doesn’t recognize Palestine as a country, so I am here to raise the flag,” Palestinian swimmer Yazan Al-Bawwab told the Associated Press. “We’re not treated like human beings, so when we come play sports, people realize we are equal to them.”
One day later, the group floated down the Seine holding the now symbolic red, green, and black flags as well as traditional keffiyehs, a symbol of Palestinian resistance. Many were adorned in embroidered Palestinian outfits — Flag bearer Waseem Abu Sal, who will compete as the first Palestinian Olympic boxer, donned a white shirt emblazoned with the image of a plane dropping ammunition on a child innocently playing soccer under a sunny sky. The outfit of Valerie Tarazi, Olympic swimmer and Palestine’s second flag bearer, represented her Gazan family.
Fans and activists protest Israel’s presence
Meanwhile, crowds in Paris’ public viewing spaces booed Israel’s Olympic delegation as it took its spot in the Olympic parade spotlight.
Protesters unfurled banners and hung posters around the city, calling for Israel’s exclusion from the games. One poster, featuring the image of an Olympic podium covered in blood, bombs, and the Israeli flag, read: “When it comes to killing for sport, there’s no competition.”
Many activists have called for a boycott of the 33rd Olympic games following its inclusion of Israel’s team. And there’s precedent for IOC action that admonishes the actions of countries: Russian athletes, banned from competing as a national team in the 2024 games, were screened for public, pro-military stances following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
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