Almost six months after the deadly war that devastated Gaza, the Palestinian Olympic Committee is fighting an uphill battle to ensure its athletes take part in this summer's Paris Games. Technical director Nader Jayousi told France 24 that his country's delegation would deliver a “message of peace” to the world and provide inspiration to Palestinian children whose “dreams were shattered by bombs.”
Palestinian athletes have participated in every Summer Olympics since they were first allowed to participate at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Each participation has had special meaning for the inhabitants of the Palestinian territories and the Palestinian diaspora, and has provided a playing field for stateless people. rest of the world.
Participation in Paris will be all the more important given the circumstances of the war that has destroyed much of the Gaza Strip and killed at least 33,000 people, according to health officials in the Hamas-controlled area. They have their sights set on this summer's Olympics.
“At least 170 people have been lost from Palestinian sports, including athletes, coaches and club staff,” Jayushi said at the headquarters of the Palestinian Olympic Committee near Jerusalem. The victims included Olympic soccer team coach Hani al-Masdar and volleyball player Ibrahim Kusaya, both of whom were killed by Israeli bombs in the Gaza Strip.
“To these tragedies must also be added the destruction of infrastructure such as the Yarmouk Stadium, the Olympic Committee offices in Gaza and several other stadiums,” he added. “If the war were to end today, at least 70% of Gaza's population would be homeless, let alone play sports.”
Jayushi said the war had forced the Palestinian committee to scale back its ambitions, leading to an abrupt end to a pioneering program aimed at increasing the number of athletes qualifying for the Olympics. Despite a major setback, Palestinian hopes received a major boost last month when Omar Ismail won his first ticket to the Olympics in men's taekwondo. Jayushi hopes other players can match this feat in the coming weeks.
At the last Tokyo Games, the Palestinian delegation had five athletes participate, the most ever. Jayushi said the goal is to “beat that number.” He believes the wild card will help send the largest delegation in Olympic history.
What were your goals for the Paris Olympics and how did the outbreak of war affect your preparations?
It must be understood that the Palestinian sports scene has come to a complete standstill since October 7th. At the beginning of these events, we participated with a delegation in the Asian Games in China, where Hala al-Qadi achieved the historic feat of winning Palestine's first bronze medal. With karate. Since then, we have spent time ensuring the safety of our players. Some of the players are from Gaza.
We were running a pilot program that focused for the first time on a group of elite athletes to secure Olympic qualification. But the cancellation came at the worst possible time, at the final stage of the most important preparations in the Olympic cycle. It's devastating for athletes.
We tried to adapt by shortening our list of players and sending them to training in friendly countries. We made progress and succeeded in achieving our goal of qualifying for the Paris Games in Taekwondo. That's historical.
Have you been able to train at all in the past 6 months?
It took 40 days to get weightlifting champion Mohammad Hamada, along with his brother, who is also his coach, out of Gaza. He is a former junior world champion and came very close to securing an Olympic berth. Unfortunately, he was in northern Gaza, one of the first areas to be invaded, when this tragedy began.
Mentally very strong. In fact, he continued training during the first months of the war. We have footage of him training in his home and we can hear the sounds of military planes and drones. But then starvation set in and he lost 15-17 kilograms. This is extremely damaging for weightlifters.
read moreIn northern Gaza, 'people have nothing left to eat'
He is currently in Thailand for the Olympic qualifiers and is giving his all. Even if he doesn't make it, we hope he can get a wildcard to Paris. That's just one example. We are here for all of our athletes to give them a chance to compete.
With so much suffering at home, how can athletes stay focused on their sport?
It's the mental foundation on which we build our athletes. They have enough awareness and maturity to understand that this is not just an individual's dream. They don't just represent themselves. They represent a country, a history, a cause.
This is how athletes stay focused and keep their head. We've been experiencing this for 75 years. If you keep your head confused, you'll be defeated within two days. We have to be very strong mentally. We can get through it, we got through it. We will participate in the Olympics.
What kind of support do you receive from other countries and the IOC?
We have good support from our brotherly Arab countries, who have hosted training camps for our teams. Japan's national soccer team achieved a historic feat by advancing to the last 16 of the Asian Cup in January. They were trained in Saudi Arabia, Doha (Qatar) and Kuwait. We receive tremendous support from countries around the world who believe in the Palestinian desire to succeed in sport.
As for the IOC, we are in constant contact with them and (IOC President) Thomas Bach himself said that he would do his best to ensure Palestine's participation in the Paris Olympics. They believe it is very important to give Palestine the opportunity to participate in the Olympics, like other countries. And we have just renewed our 100% commitment to the Olympic Charter and the IOC Code.
So I think we are certainly doing well in terms of support from friendly countries, including Western countries.
The IOC ruled out sanctions against the Israeli delegation over the Gaza war and rejected comparisons to sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. Do you agree with this decision?
As members of the Olympic Committee, we avoid talking about political issues. Our specialty is sports. There are no comments regarding Russia and Ukraine. And Israel's presence in the Olympics is not a matter for us to discuss. If our leaders say anything about this, you will hear it in the media.
We can answer all your technical athlete questions. That is the scope of our work. We do not intervene in politics in any way, even our own.
There is a possibility that Palestinian and Israeli athletes will compete against each other in the tournament. Have you discussed this with your team?
Would a Palestinian be rattled if he encountered an Israeli? We meet Israelis every day in our cities, streets, and schools. And we usually encounter them with guns. So the idea of running into them at the Olympics is not something we're worried about.
We go to the Olympics and compete to represent our country in the best possible way. You don't have to worry about meeting anyone.
What does it mean to see your delegation raising the Palestinian flag at the opening ceremony on July 26th?
In the midst of all these atrocities, all these tragedies, people will see dreams come true, athletes claiming to represent their country and cause.
I think this represents a great message of peace that shows the world what the Palestinians want. It is also a message to future generations, to children whose dreams were shattered by bombs and rockets. These children look at role models and aspire to be like the athletes who competed in the Paris Olympics.
There is a big message we need to convey. That means we are not surrendering or giving up. Through sports, we will protect the Palestinian identity and show that we are a peaceful people, full of pride and respect for other countries.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
