How many more Palestinians must be killed to exclude Israel from the Paris Olympics? – OpEd – Eurasia Review

Sports diplomacy is a multifaceted field that captures a nation’s collective ambitions on the international stage. It manifests itself in two main dimensions: diplomacy in the service of sport, which includes diplomatic efforts that increase a nation’s sporting success, and sport in the service of diplomacy, a concept generally rejected by the Olympic Committee in order to avert the politicization of sport Article 3 of the Olympic Charter. This nuanced perspective on sports diplomacy not only promotes the competitive ethos but also preserves the sanctity of sport from political entanglements.

Article 3, paragraph 5 of the Olympic Charter expressly prohibits any form of demonstrations or political, religious and racist propaganda in Olympic venues. Nevertheless, the history of the games was marked by political protests. Typically these took the form of sanctions or boycotts and served as a strong signal in international sport.

Boycotts have been a significant form of political protest throughout Olympic history and reflected the global tensions of their time. The 1908 Olympic Games in London were dominated by the boycott of Ireland, an important political statement of the time. In 1956, the Melbourne Olympics were marred by the absence of China, which protested Taiwan’s participation, triggering a series of boycotts that lasted three decades. That same year, the Netherlands and Spain withdrew from the Games in protest against Soviet military intervention in Hungary. At the same time, the Suez Canal crisis led to Egypt, Lebanon and Iraq not taking part in the 1956 Olympic Games. Let’s rewind to 1980, when over 50 Western Bloc countries boycotted the Moscow Olympics in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. This was followed by the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, which saw a retaliatory boycott by the Soviet Union and its allies, reflecting the discord of the previous Games. These events are a stark reminder of the interface between sport and politics, where the Olympic platform was repeatedly used for geopolitical statements.

Olympic boycotts take different forms, not only with countries choosing not to participate, but also with governments imposing bans on other nations. This phenomenon has occurred again and again throughout history. For example, South Africa was excluded from the Olympic Games from 1964 in Tokyo to 1992 in Barcelona due to its apartheid policy. More recently, Russia was hit with sanctions following its military actions in Ukraine, which resulted in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) banning Russia and Belarus from participating in all Olympic and related international events. Originally this ban was absolute, but it was later changed to allow athletes from these countries to compete, but not under their national flag. Such sanctions are not without precedent and serve as a reminder that the Olympic spirit is linked to global ethical standards. Today’s calls for similar action against countries such as Iran that violate human rights principles reflect the ongoing debate about the role of sport in upholding human values.

Israel can rightly be seen as a perfect example of a state that relies on terrorism and war crimes. Over the past 75 years, this regime has systematically used a full spectrum of criminal tactics against the Palestinian people. However, the most egregious escalation of these crimes occurred after the Al-Aqsa storming operation. Since the war began, Israel has committed acts so heinous that even its staunchest Western allies can no longer muster the audacity to publicly support them.

Credible sources report that horrific deaths occurred throughout the Gaza war, with one person killed every four minutes. The number of victims was particularly devastating among the most vulnerable: an average of six children and four women die every hour. To date, Israel’s attack has resulted in over 30,000 deaths. To date, the Israeli regime has targeted a total of 52 health facilities and completely disabled 25 hospitals. Astonishingly, the intensity of the regime’s bombing in just one week has exceeded the cumulative bombing in Afghanistan for the entire duration of the American presence. The first 25 days of the conflict saw a death toll in Gaza that exceeded the total toll of the year-and-a-half war in Ukraine. The intensity of the bombings on Gaza was so great that it was twice as powerful as the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The regime’s attacks have used a staggering amount of explosives, averaging 10 kilograms per Gaza resident. In addition, more Palestinian children have tragically died in a three-week war than the total number of children killed worldwide since 2019.

The New York Times report drew a sharp comparison between the atrocities committed by the United States in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan over two decades and those committed by Israel in Gaza in just two months. The regime’s ruthless campaign against the city’s residents culminated in a genocide charge at the International Court of Justice, with South Africa leading the case and supported by a coalition of nations, organizations, academics and cultural figures.

The above cases represent only a fraction of the extensive list of violations committed by the Israeli regime in the Gaza Strip. Consequently, an urgent and important debate arises: Given such extensive criminal activity, is it not imperative that the international community support Israel’s exclusion from the Olympics demands in Paris? In fact, there is a compelling case to be made that this will become a global outcry and ensure that a regime responsible for the deaths of countless Palestinian children is banned from participating in a global sporting event. A recent report by the Palestinian Football Association revealed that as many as 85 Palestinian athletes, including 55 footballers, fell victim to the regime’s deadly violence. Among those who tragically died was Hani al-Masri, an esteemed former player and manager of the Palestinian Olympic football team. The revelation has galvanized athletes around the world and prompted them to launch campaigns calling for Israel to be banned from the Paris Olympics. They are seeking a thorough investigation into possible violations of the Olympic Charter, which enshrines sport as a fundamental human right.

Today’s serious human rights abuses by Israelis bear a shocking resemblance to conditions in South Africa during the apartheid era, which led to their exclusion from the South African Olympics. Many African human rights activists and anti-apartheid advocates argue that Israel’s pattern of crimes over time reveals a system of apartheid in Gaza that is significantly more brutal, blatant and inhumane than its historical counterpart in Africa. Consequently, there is a legitimate expectation that Israel will be confronted with at least an equivalent reprimand with regard to its participation in the Olympics.

In conclusion, it is important to emphasize that the Olympic Charter aims to use sport as a channel for the harmonious development of humanity, the promotion of a peaceful society and the preservation of human dignity. If the International Olympic Committee were to allow Israeli athletes to take part in the Paris Games, it would not only represent a disregard for the rights of Palestinians, their families and friends – all of whom have suffered immensely from the cruel Isarel attacks – but also a sign of this his abandonment of the Committee’s fundamental mission of preserving human dignity. Furthermore, admitting Israel to the Olympics amid its ongoing genocide against the Palestinians would constitute tacit endorsement of egregious war crimes by the international sports community.