Olympics between Palestinian 'resistance' and 'secret' homage to Munich '72 victims

For the head of the Committee Jibril Rajoub there will be great "attention" and pressure on the eight athletes, symbols of a people at war. For the eighth time since Atlanta 1996 at the Games, they will be present in various sports from swimming to boxing. Due to fears of attacks, the ceremony commemorating the 11 Israeli athletes killed by the Palestinians of "Black September" will be held in a hidden location.

Jerusalem (AsiaNews) - The eight Palestinian athletes at the Paris Olympics, scheduled from July 26 to August 11, will be a symbol of "resistance" in the eyes of the world, in the face of the drama unfolding in Gaza, the scene of Israel's war on Hamas in response to the terrorist attack on October 7.

This is what a Palestinian minister said yesterday on the occasion of the departure of the official delegation that left the West Bank for France, the host nation of the XXXIII edition, exactly one hundred years since the last time in 1924 (the first in 1900).

This will be the eighth time that Palestinian representatives will be present at the Games since 1996, but first time according to the head of the Olympic Committee Jibril Rajoub there will be great "attention" and pressure on the athletes.

Varsen Aghabekian Shahin, Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs, stressed at a public meeting yesterday in Ramallah that the athletes are preparing for the start of the Games at a "very dark time in our history".

Addressing the delegation, he added that "you are not only athletes, you are also ... symbols of Palestinian resistance'. Meanwhile, the French organisers have tightened security measures due to the conflict in the Strip. "We want," the Olympic Committee chief continued, "for this participation to be a message from the Palestinians to the world that it is time for them to be free in their homeland. "With this participation, we want to present the suffering of the Palestinian people," he says. and the unprecedented killings taking place in Gaza.

Rajoub, who has been at the centre of controversy in the past as the Times of Israel (Toi) recalls for praising the Munich 72 terrorists, later reported that some 400 athletes, coaches and sports officials in Gaza have been killed or injured since the start of the bloody war.

Attacks in southern Israel have also killed 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to anAfp count based on Israeli data. The military offensive by the army with the Star of David (IDF) killed at least 38,584 people in the Strip, also mostly civilians, according to the tally published by the extremist movement's health ministry.

Majed Abu Marahil, a long-distance runner and the first Palestinian to participate in the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, died in June. According to officials, he died of untreated kidney failure because Gaza hospitals were devastated by the conflict. Rajoub concluded by mentioning that bringing athletes to Paris 'is already a victory'.

They will be competing in athletics, swimming, archery, taekwondo, judo and boxing. One secured a place through the regular qualifiers and seven received special invitations. Among them today is 24-year-old swimmer Valerie Tarazi (pictured), a dual US and Palestinian national, winner of last year's Arab Games in Algeria. "Being in Paris," she said, "for Palestine is very important, to participate in a global swimming competition at a time when there are no places to train is surreal.

During the Games in a climate of war from Gaza to Ukraine (with Russian and Belarusian athletes not being allowed to compete with flag and anthem) 30,000 police and gendarmes will be deployed in the French capital, along with some 20,000 soldiers to ensure security. In addition, between 17 thousand and 22 thousand private contractors are expected to be deployed at the Olympic sites and fan zones.

It is precisely for security reasons that the organisers have reportedly decided to hold the ceremony commemorating the victims of the 1972 Munich Olympics terrorist attack outside the Olympic village, in a secret location.

The fear is that the event, considered highly sensitive, could be targeted by extremists. According to Israel Hayom, the ceremony was originally scheduled to take place on 24 July at the Paris municipality, but was cancelled. In its place, an alternative ceremony will be held on a smaller scale, with fewer participants, at a location that will not be disclosed to the public.

The Israeli Olympic Committee denied reports that the ceremony had been moved because of threats; on the contrary, it was only a logistical problem, as the specific permits required to hold the event in the municipality could not be issued in the days before the opening ceremony of the Olympics.

The ceremony commemorates the 11 Israeli victims at the 1972 Munich Games, who were shot by militiamen of the Palestinian group 'Black September'; a commando infiltrated the Olympic village, kidnapping the athletes and killing 11 of them before being stopped. The first commemoration was held at the Tokyo 2020 Games. The decision to promote an official event for the victims of the attack was taken by the IOC president after a campaign by the families of the victims.