“Ban Israel”: calls for Paris 2024 to sanction participation of Israel at Olympics

Occupied Palestine (QNN)- Palestinians facing Israel’s genocide war on Gaza and pro-Palestine activists have called on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to ban Israel from the Olympics 2024, which are set to get underway in Paris on July 26.

Palestinians and Pro-Palestine activists have continued to urge the IOC to ban Israel in the days leading up to the Games via online petitions, worldwide protests, including outside France’s Olympics 2024 headquarters in Paris, and social media campaigns.

Online Petitions and Campaigns

In December 2023, an online petition was launched by DiEM25 to suspend Israel from participation in all international sports until it fully complies with international law and sports regulations, including banning Israel from competing at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“Our governments and elected representatives continue to toe the official line of Israel – even increasing diplomatic, financial, and military support to it despite countless violations of international laws, international humanitarian laws, and UN resolutions,” the petition reads.

“The International Olympic Committee, FIFA, UEFA, FIBA, and other sports organizations are complicit as they allow continuous participation of the occupying apartheid regime in their events. Following a swift response and an instant suspension of Russia, it is now difficult for them to justify turning a blind eye to the Israeli government’s actions.”

An online campaign was also launched in April 2024, calling the Olympic torchbearers to join calls for #CeasefireNow and help stop Israel’s #GazaGenocide.

The campaign asked the torchbearers to take one or more of the following actions to ensure Olympic values are upheld and to stand in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza:

Carry or wear:
The Palestinian flag
A call for “Ceasefire Now”
A call for free entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza
A call for an end to Israel’s Gaza genocide
A call for a military embargo on Israel
A call to support the Palestinian demand to #BanIsrael from the Olympics

In January, more than 300 Palestinian sports clubs and dozens of major Palestinian civil society organizations launched a call to #BanIsrael from the Olympics. The Palestinian clubs, which include men’s and women’s football, basketball, and volleyball teams, and those whose players have been killed by Israeli bullets, are calling on the IOC to “apply its principles and fulfill its obligations by banning Israel from the Olympic Games, until it ends its grave violations of international law, particularly its system of apartheid and its ongoing genocide in Gaza.”

More than 200 athletes across many sports in Ireland are calling on international sporting bodies, including the Olympic Federation of Ireland, to demand an investigation into Israel’s violation of the Olympic charter and to impose sanctions.

More than 37,000 people have signed a recent petition by the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 calling for an “immediate suspension of Israel from participation in all international sports until it fully complies with international law and sports regulations.”

Worldwide Protests

Several worldwide protests have continued to be kicked off by pro-Palestine demonstrators who have called the organizers of the Paris Olympics to ban Israel while chanting slogans against Israel’s “genocide”, holding up Palestinian flags and banners reading “Boycott Israel, boycott genocide”, “Humanity has failed” and “Free Palestine”.

Social Media

Activists on social media have also urged the organizers of the Paris Olympics to take action against Israel which has been accused of genocide by South Africa in its case at the International Court of Justice, saying it must face the consequences of its actions.

Some activists also pointed out that the IOC only took a few days to exclude Russia and Belarus from the 2022 Olympics over the war in Ukraine.

Ongoing Suffering

For Palestinians experiencing Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, the 2024 Olympic Games will be nothing but another confirmation of the world’s apparent indifference to their ongoing suffering.

Since October 7, the besieged Gaza Strip has been the scene of an unprecedented tragedy. According to official estimates, in over nine months, Israeli occupation has killed more than 38,700 people and wounded nearly 90,000. This death toll includes more than 15,000 children. Many more children have been left without parents. The Israeli assault has also destroyed most of the Strip’s schools and hospitals. There are no universities left standing.

Once home to more than two million people, most of Gaza is now nothing but rubble.
A fleet of more than one hundred lorries would take 15 years to clear Gaza of almost 40m tonnes of rubble in an operation costing between $500m (£394m) and $600m, a UN assessment has found.

Palestinian sports have suffered significant damage as a result of the Israeli war with Jibril Rajoub, president of the Palestinian Olympic committee, saying last month that more than 300 athletes, referees, administrators, and support staff have been killed and all sports facilities in Gaza destroyed in the attacks. One of those who died was Majed Abu Maraheel, a retired distance runner who became the first Palestinian to compete in the Olympics when he ran the 10,000 meters in Atlanta in 1996.

The plight of Palestinians did not start on October 7; rather, it started 76 years ago, since the Palestinian Nakba.

Thus, in this context, the Olympic Games should not go forward, as if nothing has happened, with Israel’s participation.

According to the Olympic Charter, the games seek to create a way of life based on, among other things, “respect for internationally recognized human rights and universal fundamental ethical principles”.

Israel has been blatantly violating human rights and “universal fundamental ethical principles” without any consequences since its inception.

Among its flagrant violations: are confiscation of Palestinian lands and property, unlawful acts of killing, forced displacement, severe restrictions on movement, arbitrary detention, settler violence, and the list goes on.

Activists have said that if Israel is allowed to participate with no protests or opposition, especially this year as it is committing genocide in Gaza, the games will lose all meaning.