Vincent Frank
The 2024 Summer Olympics are officially here with the Opening Ceremonies set for Friday from Paris. These games come with tension around the world at modern high. That includes Israel’s war with Hamas in Palestine.
It’s going to be very interesting to see how things play out in France with this as the backdrop.
What we do know is that the Palestinian Olympic team was greeted with a warm welcome as they arrived in Paris ahead of the Opening Ceremonies.
“Palestinian Olympic athletes were greeted with a roar of a crowd and gifts of food and roses as they arrived in Paris on Thursday, ready to represent war–torn Gaza and the rest of the territories on a global stage,” the Associated Press reported on Thursday.
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The scene in Paris this week has been something else with protests and counter protests. While Palestinian athletes are competing under their flag, they did not take to France as a nation.
“France doesn’t recognize Palestine as a country, so I am here to raise the flag,” Palestinian swimmer Yazan Al-Bawwab told the Associated Press. “We’re not treated like human beings, so when we come play sports, people realize we are equal to them. We’re 50 million people without a country.”
Rallies and protests also continue to be the name of the game as the Summer Olympics get going.
Following the Hamas attack on Israel back on Oct. 7 of last year, Israel invaded the Gaza Strip. The month’s long war has reportedly claimed 39,000 Palestinian lives.
Meanwhile, United Nations human rights experts said that Palestinian militants committed war crimes during the first months of the war in Gaza. The same report claims that Israeli officials were responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity,” per the AP report.
Let’s just hope that everything remains peaceful. The Summer Olympics are meant for the world to come together as one. It’s meant for athletes to represent their people and their country.