Everyone is expecting the Olympic 2024 to be a political-free event. It brings different athletes from all over the world to unite and play different games. But unfortunately, this event is not free of political dust. Political matters have always influenced the games, with controversies, protests, and boycotts. Two nations, Russia and China, get criticism from all over the world. Many say that these nations use this event to improve their political image.
This year, the political crisis are more obvious, especially concerning the Gaza war and Israel’s actions on Palestinians. Russian and Belarusian athletes can’t compete under their national flags due to their involvement in the Ukraine conflict; they must participate under a neutral banner. Yet, despite Israel’s ongoing actions in Gaza, the players from Israel are not prevented from playing games under their flags. This double standard rules in Olympics 2024 are deeply troubling and also points out the political bias present in the event.
Different nations requested to exclude Israel from the Olympics, but all of these calls have been ignored. Despite the serious allegation against Israel. Back to January, when Internatiomal Court of Justice highlited that Israel is the nation that violating the genocide prevention laws. Also in February Amnesty International stated that Israel hasn’t even taken minimal steps to follow the ICJ’s orders to protect Palestinians in Gaza from genocide risks. In May, the International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor requested arrest warrants against the leader of this nation Benjamin Netanyahu due to committing different crimes against humanity and also killing many innocent palestinian during the Gaza war.
Last month the International Court of Justice also ruled that Israel occupied the Palestinian territories are illegal. This control of Israel on the West Bank, and East Jerusalem amounts to Apartheid. Despite all of these findings and calls for immediate actions, no steps are taken to exclude Israel’s athe;estes from Olympics 2024. This also raises serious concerns about accountability and justice.
Ignoring different evidences
It is very shocking that the president of the International Olympic Committee(IOC), Thomas Bach, ignored all calls and refused to ban Israel from the Olympics. Despite the fact that this nation violated international laws again and again.
The Palestine Olympic Committee (POC) pointed out that Palestinian athletes, especially those in Gaza, face severe hardships and lack safe passage due to the ongoing conflict.
However, Bach dismissed this plea, saying he doesn’t want to get involved in “political business.” French President Emmanuel Macron also disagreed with banning Israel, even though some, like Thomas Portes from the French parliament’s left-wing La France Insoumise, believe Israel should face the same sanctions as Russia and Belarus. This situation highlights a troubling double standard and a reluctance to hold all nations accountable equally.
Additionally the lawmakers stated, “Speaking at a rally last week, Portes declared that the Israeli delegation “is not welcome in Paris” and that “Israeli sports people are not welcome at the Paris Olympic Games.”
It is the duty of French diplomats to ask the Olympic Committee to ban Israel flags and athletes, same as they have done for Russia. Portes received criticism due to his comments but some French lawmakers such as Aurelien Le Coq, Jerome Legavre, and Manuel Bompard stood in favor of him.
There are many deaths and injuries in Palestine due to the Israeli military. There were about 39,363 deaths and 90,923 injuries in less than ten months, including 15,000 children.
A report in The Lancet estimated that if Israel’s attack on Gaza ended now, it could still cause 149,000 to 598,000 Palestinian deaths. Today, Gaza is mostly uninhabitable. In comparison, the UN reported 10,582 civilian deaths in Ukraine in the first two years of the war. People are right to be upset about Ukraine’s suffering, but it seems unfair to ban Russia and Belarus while letting Israel participate.
The same standards should apply to all nations to ensure fairness and justice.
The Olympic Charter says that games have the purpose to promote equality, unity and also request human rights. But this year, allowing Israel in the 2024 Olympics goes against this idea. Back to the history of the Olympics when many countries banned playing in the Olympics with similar issues. For example South Africa was banned from the Olympics in 1964 and 1968. In 1970 this nation was kicked out. Same was done with Rhodesia. But allowing Israel to play clearly highlights the hypocrisy.
