“French diplomacy must put pressure on the International Olympic Committee so that the Israeli flag and anthem are not admitted in the Olympic Games, just as this was done for Russia.”
A left-wing member of the French parliament has stirred controversy after saying the Israeli delegation was not welcome at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Thomas, Portes, from the France Unbowed (LFI) party, told a rally in support of Palestine in the city on Saturday “I’m here to say that no, the Israeli delegation is not welcome in Paris. Israeli athletes are not welcome at the Paris Olympic Games.”
He later told the daily Le Parisien: “French diplomacy must put pressure on the International Olympic Committee so that the Israeli flag and anthem are not admitted in the Olympic Games, just as this was done for Russia.”
Portes added: “We must put an end to this double standard.”
La délégation Israélienne fera l’objet d’une sécurisation renforcée par les forces de l’ordre pendant toute sa présence sur le territoire national. pic.twitter.com/HPbO1RAmCu
— Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) July 21, 2024
‘Reinforced Security’
The French interior minister, Gérald Darmanin said Israeli athletes would receive reinforced security by the police throughout the event.
He said Portes “put a target on the back of Israeli athletes,” reported the Anadolu news agency.
The mayor of the southern city of Nice, Christian Estrosi reportedly requested “a dissolution process” against the LFI.
According to Anadolu, the president and lawyer of the European Jewish Organization, Muriel Ouaknine-Melki told the broadcaster Cnews that they would file a complaint against Portes for incitement to hate.
‘Double Standards’
Left-wing lawmakers however expressed support for Portes on X.
🚨Un génocide est toujours en cours à Gaza
Près de 40 000 personnes sont mortes
Les rares à le dénoncer et à demander des sanctions sont la cible de l'extrême droite. Soutien @Portes_Thomas
Les athlètes russes défilent sous bannière neutre. Pourquoi pas les Israéliens? #JO2024
— Aurélien Le Coq (@Aurelien_Le_Coq) July 21, 2024
“A genocide is still ongoing in Gaza. Nearly 40,000 people are dead,” lawmaker Aurelien Le Coq said on X. “The few to denounce it and demand sanctions are the target of the far right. Support @Portes_Thomas.”
He added: “Russian athletes parade under (a) neutral banner. Why not the Israelis?”
Another lawmaker Jerome Legrave called the reaction to Portes’ statement “intolerable.”
“What my colleague and comrade was content to say and denounce is that when it comes to Israel and its government, (the) author of the massacre of an entire people, the rule is more than ever ‘double standards’,” he said on X.
“All the controversy unleashed against him has in reality only one objective: to try to erase and make invisible the fact that for more than 9 months a genocide has been underway. Whatever the outburst, we will not be silent and will continue to fight to end this barbarity,” he added.
L’acharnement contre Thomas Portes est intolérable. Ce que mon collègue et camarade s’est contenté de dire et dénoncer, c’est que s’agissant d’Israël et de son gouvernement, auteur du massacre de tout un peuple, la règle est plus que jamais le « deux poids, deux mesures ». Toute…
— Jérôme Legavre (@LegavreJerome) July 21, 2024
International Law Violations
Lawmaker Aymeric Caron said, “It would have been logical for the IOC to apply to the Israeli delegation in Paris the same treatment as that applied to Russian and Belarusian athletes: the neutral banner.”
Another lawmaker, Manuel Bompard said: “I support Thomas Portes in the face of the wave of hatred he is experiencing. Faced with repeated violations of international law by the Israeli government, it is legitimate to ask that its athletes compete under a neutral banner in the Olympic Games.”
LFI members have expressed support for Gaza and the Palestinian cause since Israel’s military onslaught on the Gaza Strip began last October.
Apparemment l’armée israélienne fait un lien entre ses soldats et les athlètes olympiques.
Armée coupable de crimes de guerre et de crimes contre l’humanité à Gaza, selon une commission de l’ONU.
Il aurait été logique que le CIO applique à la délégation israélienne à Paris le… https://t.co/el7zXTT7bI— Aymeric Caron (@CaronAymericoff) July 22, 2024
Stéphane Séjourné, the French Foreign Minister, said on Monday that the Israeli delegation “is welcome to the Olympic and Paralympic Games. France will ensure the security of all delegations.”
Call to IOC
Last month, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland to demand that Israel be barred from competing at the 2024 Olympic Games in amid the ongoing genocidal assault on Gaza.
Protesters pointed out that the committee “only took a few days” to exclude Russia and Belarus from the 2022 Olympics over the war in Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022.
‘Genocidal State’ – IOC Urged to Bar Israel from Olympic Games in Paris
Athletes from Russia and Belarus will be allowed to compete in this year’s Olympics as neutrals, according to the committee. However, they will not be allowed to participate in the opening ceremony and will not use flags, emblems or anthems.
Ongoing Genocide
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, 38,893 Palestinians have been killed, and 89,727 wounded. 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’.
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)
“Israel” WANTS a double-standard when it suites them.