RAMALLAH: The Palestine Olympic Committee and the Palestinian Football Association sent today an official letter to the President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, and the FIFA President, Gianni Infantino, demanding to ban Israel from the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The letter comes months after various Palestinian sports bodies provided information on the systematic and ongoing violations of the Olympic Charter and FIFA regulations by Israeli sports bodies and their members, including the Olympic Committee of Israel and the Israeli Football Association.
These violations included involvement in illegal colonial occupation and land appropriation, in addition to incitement to genocide, among other points that have been made clear on previous occasions.
The letter indicated that Israel violated the observance of the Olympic Truce for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024, which was formally adopted by the United Nations General Assembly and stipulated observing an Olympic Truce from July 19
through September 15, 2024, to ensure a peaceful environment for the competition.
Nevertheless, Israel violated this truce during the first 24 hours by launching raids against Gaza, resulting in civilian casualties.
According to the letter, this violation highlights the urgent need for FIFA to act in line with its statutes and promote respect for international human rights.
The letter pointed to the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), issued on Friday, which confirmed that Israel is implementing an apartheid regime and is illegally annexing Palestinian lands, which further condemns its practices in Gaza.
It explained that allowing Israeli teams to participate in international football under these circumstances would undermine FIFA’s basic objectives and the principles of human rights and non-discrimination, as set out in Articles 3 and 4 of the FIFA Statutes.
The Palestine Olympic Committee and the Palestinian Football Association noted that the International Olympic Committee a
nd FIFA have taken decisive action in the past against violations of the Olympic Truce.
They called for a similar response to the ongoing violations by Israel to ensure consistency and integrity in the approach of official sports committees toward international disputes.
The letter affirmed that Palestinian athletes, especially in Gaza, are deprived of protection and are suffering greatly due to the ongoing conflict, with about 400 Palestinian athletes killed, adding that the destruction of sports facilities has exacerbated the plight of athletes who are already subject to severe restrictions.
The letter noted that members of the Israeli Olympic delegation have engaged in racist, anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab and anti-Islamic campaigns, in addition to their encouragement of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
It added that these cases were previously documented and submitted to the International Olympic Committee and FIFA.
The letter called on the International Olympic Committee and FIFA to s
uspend the activities of Israeli teams in international competitions, including the upcoming Paris Olympics, as a measure to preserve the principles of the Olympic Charter and FIFA’s commitment to justice and human rights.
Source: Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA