Israel should be barred from Olympics like South Africa during apartheid, says Palestinian official

By Bozhan Memis

PARIS (AA) – Israel should not participate in the Paris Olympics, Palestinian Olympic Committee President Jibril Rajoub said on Thursday, urging the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to reconsider its decision and make the world aware of the atrocities committed in Gaza.

Speaking to reporters at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, where he arrived for the Paris 2024 Olympics, Rajoub said Israel has lost the right to compete in the Olympics, just as South Africa did from 1964 to 1988 during apartheid.

He stated that Israel's Olympic Committee has forfeited its right to participate in international sporting events, referencing the IOC's 1970 decision to expel the South African National Olympic Committee (NOC) from the organization.

Rajoub wrote a letter to the IOC last week, requesting that Israel be barred from participating in the international sporting event due to Israeli forces' intensive bombardment of the Gaza Strip, which has killed over 39,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, since Oct. 7.

"We want the world to realize the crimes of the fascists, racists, and Nazi occupiers against the Palestinian people,” Rajoub said, urging the IOC to reconsider its decision.

However, the request was rejected by the IOC.

"What is happening in the Gaza Strip, as well as in East Jerusalem and throughout the Palestinian territories, is similar to what the Nazis did in the 1940s," he added.

"The world is well aware that the greatest threat to international peace and stability in the region is Israel's refusal to end the occupation of Palestinian territories and grant the Palestinian people the right to live peacefully," Rajoub said.

- International organizations’ double standards

Rajoub lamented the IOC's double standards, saying allowing Israel to compete violates Olympic treaties, international law, and sports ethics.

"For legal, moral, and humanitarian reasons, Israel has forfeited its right to participate in this event," he said, adding that those who want to wave the Israeli flag during the games should remember the missiles that fell on children in Gaza.

In response to a question about a possible meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, he said it is likely to take place either Thursday or Friday.

He hoped that Macron would announce his decision to recognize Palestine as a state in accordance with international resolutions.

“Our message to France and the French people is that the time has come to recognize the Palestinian state and that they must take a stand against the Israeli attacks on the Palestinian people,” he said.

*Writing by Selcuk Bugra Gokalp