Most of the athletes representing the Palestinian territories at the Paris Olympics were born elsewhere — Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Germany, Chile and the US — yet they care deeply about the politics of their parents’ and grandparents’ homeland.
They are eager to compete, but say their presence at the Games is not only, or even primarily, about sports. With Israel and Hamas locked in a brutal war that has killed tens of thousands in Gaza, these eight athletes — two of whom hail from the West Bank — carry heavier burdens.
Yazan al-Bawwab, a 24-year-old swimmer who was born in Saudi Arabia and lives in Dubai, said he does not expect recognition for his performance in the pool.
Photo: AP
He uses swimming as a “tool for Palestine,” he said.
“Unfortunately, nobody has ever asked me about my races. Nobody cares,” said al-Bawwab, whose parents come from Jerusalem and Lod, a city that today is in central Israel. “I’m going to be plain and honest: France does not recognize Palestine as a country, but I’m over there, raising my flag. That’s my role.”
Omar Ismail, who was born in Dubai to parents who come from the West Bank town of Jenin, has loftier athletic ambitions.
Shortly after earning his spot on the team at a taekwondo qualification tournament in China, the 18-year-old said he aims to win a gold medal in Paris.
Even if he does not earn a medal, Ismail — who has visited relatives in Jenin — believes his participation symbolizes something larger than himself.
“I represent the identity of the people in Palestine, their steadfastness,” Ismail said. “I’d like to inspire the children of Palestine, show them that each of them can achieve their goals, give them hope.”
Even under the best of circumstances, it is difficult to maintain a vibrant Olympics training program in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Nine months of war between Israel and Hamas has made that challenge next to impossible.
Much of the country’s sporting infrastructure, clubs and institutions have been demolished, Palestine Olympic Committee (POC) technical director Nader Jayousi said.
“Do you know how many approved pools there are in Palestine? Zero,” al-Bawwab said, adding that the Palestinian economy is too small and fragile to consistently support the development of elite athletes. “There is no sports in Palestine. We are a country right now that does not have enough food or shelter, and we are trying to figure out how to stay alive. We are not a sports country yet.”
The Palestinian diaspora has always played an important role at the Olympics and other international competitions, Jayousi said.
He said it was not the first time that most of the athletes representing the POC come from abroad, adding that the Palestinian diaspora is always represented at any big international sporting competition and Olympics.
More than 38,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the war between Israel and Hamas began, local health officials said.
Among those who died were about 300 athletes, referees, coaches and others working in Gaza’s sports sector, Jayousi said.
Perhaps the most prominent Palestinian athlete to die in the war was long-distance runner Majed Abu Maraheel, who in 1996 in Atlanta became the first Palestinian to compete in the Olympics.
He died of kidney failure earlier this year after he was unable to be treated in Gaza and could not be evacuated to Egypt, Palestinian officials said.
Only one Palestinian athlete, Ismail, qualified for the Paris Games in his own right. The seven others gained their spots under a wild-card system delivered as part of the universality quota places.
Backed by the International Olympic Committee, it allows athletes who represent poorer nations with less-established sports programs to compete, even though they did not meet the sporting criteria.
“We had very high hopes that we would go to Paris 2024 with qualified athletes,” Jayousi said. “We lost lots of these chances because of the complete stoppage of every single activity in the country.”
One Olympic hopeful who did not make the cut was Gaza-born weightlifter Mohammed Hamada, a flag bearer at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. When the war began, Hamada moved to Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah and trained there for 25 days, but because of the shortage of food, Hamada — who competed in the 102kg weight class — gradually lost about 18kg.
He eventually secured a visa to leave Gaza and moved to Qatar to continue his training, but he could not get his body back to Olympic-level condition, Jayousi said.
Jayousi said winning medals is not the top priority for the athletes who made it to Paris. (No Palestinian athlete has ever won an Olympic medal.)
“We are going here to show our Palestinianism,” he said. “We are focused on fighting until the last second, which we have been doing as a nation for the last 80 years.”
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