Wildcards are the hope of many Palestinian to join the Paris Olympic 2024. These cards will be issued from the International Olympic Committee that is the hope of many Palestinian athletes with the war continuing in Gaza.
However, the President of the Palestinian Olympic Committee emphasized this reality on Wednesday, highlighting the difficult conditions these athletes endure. Their perseverance and hope in such challenging times merit support and acknowledgment from the global community.
Jibril Rajoub told the press conference, “ “We have one athlete who has already qualified.” “We will have a minimum of 6-8 [athletes].” He added that 3 of them belong to Gaza, maybe one or two women.
According to the International Olympic Committee(IOC), at least one athlete from each country participated in the Paris Olympics. In order to fulfill the requirement of the IOC to get wildcards, athletes get training. But here the question arises, is it fair? With the Paris Olympics starting on 26 July, we need to ask if this is really about true competition or just filling quotas.
According to Rajab, “ We have other opportunities in judo, boxing, weightlifting and swimming. They are all outside Palestine now,” said Rajoub. “They are training around the world in some [countries] who took us in as guests.”
In October last year the attack of Israel on Gaza was devastating for the entire sports community. This attack killed many athletes, officials and referees. The figure of killing people was about 300. Furthermore, the brutal behavior of Israel towards Gaza has destroyed all sports facilities. So, the conflict severely affected the Gaza sports community.
According to Palestinian official, ““There are hundreds more under the rubble and hundreds under the oppression of the [Israeli] occupation.” We are oppressed and violated by the other side. All Palestinians are subjected to this oppression.”
Many Arab countries tried their best to help the Palestinian athletes. These include Kuwait, Qatar, Libya, and Egypt. These nations provide the opportunity to players to complete their training. This training allows the player to compete with their opponents in international competition. Also this chance allows palestinian athletes to take part in the Paris Olympics in France and show their skills. They also have a chance to represent their nation on the global stage.
This support highlights the solidarity among Arab nations and their commitment to promoting Palestinian sports and athletes. It will be the prouding moment for Palestine that its athletes take part in the international games.
The conflict between Hamas and Israel started on October 7. It was when Hamas, the governing authority in Gaza, crossed the border in an incursion. This incident took the lives of many Israelis. According to some reports, approximately 1200 Israelis died. In this figure, many women and children were also included. Furthermore, this incident was also the source of many casualties caused by tanks and helicopters from the Israel Defence Forces.
The resistance movement also took approximately 250 individuals as hostages back to Gaza, which is known as one of the most densely populated areas in the world.
In response to the conflict, Israel also showed cruel behavior. Its recent offensive has caused immense human suffering, resulting in the deaths of at least 38,000 Palestinians, many of whom were children and women.This situation caused the severe humanitarian crisis in the region such as shortage of food, essential supplies, fuel,medicine and lots more.
The offensive has also left civilian infrastructure and housing in ruins, compounding the already dire situation. The international community has condemned these actions, calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities and humanitarian aid to be delivered swiftly to those affected. The situation underscores the urgent need for a peaceful resolution to the conflict and for all parties involved to prioritize the protection of civilian lives and the restoration of basic human rights.
