According to the Palestine Olympic Committee, over 300 athletes, referees and sports officials have been killed since the start of the war on October 7.
Palestinian solidarity was on full display during an Olympic road cycling competition in Paris.
As cyclists passed the 20th arrondissement of Paris on Saturday, demonstrators waved Palestinian flags and some wore keffiyehs, a well-known symbol of Palestinian solidarity.
Protesters wearing t-shirts in the colors of the Palestinian flag chanted: “Free Palestine.”
The French gendarme, who wanted demonstrators to remove their Palestinian flags, waited behind activists throughout the race, reported the Anadolu news agency.
‘Genocidal State’ – IOC Urged to Bar Israel from Olympic Games in Paris
Meanwhile, hundreds of demonstrators gathered at the Place de la Nation to demand that Israel stop its ongoing attacks on Gaza, which has killed 39,583 Palestinians since October 7.
The demonstrators carried Palestinian flags, posters stating “Boycott Genocide” and banners with pictures of children killed in Israeli attacks.
Calls to Ban Israel
In the run-up to the Olympic Games, calls were made for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to bar Israel from participating, to no avail.
French Police Enforce Ban on Palestinian Flags During Olympic Flame Parade. How can a people’s country flag be banned in the olympics from all places? Disgusting.
Despite Palestine having an Olympic team participating in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the French authorities have… pic.twitter.com/5UaDhvaQaI
— Ehab Judeh (Crescent Heart) (@ehab_judeh) August 3, 2024
As the Palestine Chronicle’s Robert Inlakesh explains, countless anti-war movements across the globe petitioned the IOC to ban Israel, yet these petitions and protests fell on deaf ears, as the Olympics proudly hosts Israel.
Protesters pointed out that the IOC took “only a few days” to exclude Russia and Belarus from the 2022 Olympics over the war in Ukraine, which began in February 2022.
Eight athletes are representing Palestine in the Olympics this year in sports such as boxing, judo, swimming, shooting, track and field, and taekwondo.
TODAY: TODAY: Protesters wave Palestinian flags and a banner reading "Paris JO – sponsor of genocide" along the route of a cycling event at the 2024 Olympics, to denounce Israel's participation in the Olympics while it commits genocide in Gaza. Photos: @annepaq / Activestills pic.twitter.com/pQLq2pmYIT
— Activestills (@activestills) August 3, 2024
Sportspersons Killed in Gaza
According to the Palestine Olympic Committee, over 300 athletes, referees and sports officials have been killed since the start of the war on October 7.
Additionally, all sports facilities and infrastructure in Gaza were demolished by Israeli occupation forces.
On June 11, long-distance runner Majed Abu Marahel, the first Palestinian to compete at the Olympics in 1996, died in Gaza due to Israel’s inhumane blockade on medication and the destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system.
Abu Marahel died at the age of 61 at the Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza from kidney failure.
Olympic Pioneer – Iconic Palestinian Athlete Dies in Gaza Due to Israeli Blockade
His condition was exacerbated by power outages and medical shortages caused by the ongoing Israeli siege.
Abu Marahel made history as the first Palestinian athlete to be the flag bearer and represent Palestine at the Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996.
Ongoing Genocide
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 39,583 Palestinians have been killed, and 91,398 wounded since then. Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
New Airstrikes on Gaza Schools – 25 Killed, Majority of Casualties are Children
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.
(PC, Anadolu)
Palestine will be free, of Israel.