Ten months into a brutal war that has killed tens of thousands of people in Gaza, Palestinian athletes are aiming for a lot more than medals at the Paris Olympics, hoping to shed light on the suffering of Gazans as they fly the colours of a stateless people scattered across the globe.
Yazan al-Bawwab's first and only race of the Games lasted less than a minute – long enough to have the colours of the Palestinian Territories projected onto his lane at the Olympic pool near Paris.
It was a fleeting appearance for both flag and athlete; but to the 24-year-old swimmer, it meant the world.
“France, like many European countries, still doesn’t see Palestine as a country,” he told FRANCE 24. “But we have a lane here at the Paris Olympics.”
A two-time Olympian, al-Bawwab is one of eight athletes representing Palestine at the Games, competing in such diverse sports as boxing, judo, athletics and taekwondo. Most were born outside the Palestinian Territories but remain deeply tied to their parents’ and grandparents’ homeland.
“We're 15 million Palestinians scattered around the world. I'm just one who's able to give a voice to a people who are not heard,” said al-Bawwab, the son of Palestinian refugees who was born in Saudi Arabia and raised in Dubai.
“It’s an honour to raise my flag in a country that does not recognise Palestine,” added the Palestinian flagbearer, who swam with a Palestinian flag tattooed on his chest. “It’s my way of showing resistance.”
Representing a people
Palestinian athletes have taken part in every Summer Olympics since they were first admitted to the Atlanta Games in 1996. Each participation has carried a special significance for residents of the Palestinian Territories and the Palestinian diaspora, giving the stateless people a venue in which to compete with the rest of the world.
“We’re definitely diplomats for our people as well as athletes,” US-born runner Layla Almasri told reporters after competing in the women’s 800 metres. Speaking of Palestine, she added: “It’s in my blood and it’s in my heart.”
Read morePalestinian athletes will ‘represent a country, a history, a cause’ at the Paris Olympics
“We're trying to show the world that we're athletes, that we want to play sports like everybody else, that we want to have the same rights as everybody else,” added al-Bawwab. “And sport is one tool we can use because we are not treated as human beings right now.”
Taking part in the Paris Games is all the more significant in the context of the war that has devastated most of the Gaza Strip and killed close to 40,000 people, according to health officials in the Hamas-held enclave, including some of the athletes who had set their sights on the Summer Olympics.
Some 400 athletes, coaches and other staff are estimated to have died since October, according to the Palestine Olympic Committee (POC). Victims include Olympic football team coach Hani Al-Masdar and volleyball star Ibrahim Qusaya, both of them killed by Israeli bombs in Gaza.
Another prominent casualty is the 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 after he was unable to be treated in Gaza and could not be evacuated to Egypt, Palestinian officials said.
Spotlight on Gaza
The war triggered by the October 7 Hamas-led attacks on Israel has stoked tensions in Paris, with Israeli athletes arriving to events under a heavy police escort. Last week, Paris prosecutors said they had opened an investigation into death threats emailed to Israeli athletes.
While Israel has called for the Olympics to remain a neutral space, the Palestinian delegation has used the Games as a platform to shed light on the plight of Gaza. The POC has also asked the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to boycott Israeli athletes over the continuing bombardment of Gaza.
“There's no words to describe what's happening back home,” said al-Bawwab. “Our people are not dreaming about gold medals. They’re dreaming about basic human rights, about food and water.”
The Palestinian athletes have been riding a wave of popular sympathy since their arrival at Charles de Gaulle airport on the eve of the Games. They walked through a sea of Palestinian flags at the Paris hub and were greeted with gifts of food and roses.
Their presence at the Olympics, after nine months of devastating warfare, is a statement in itself. Training in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem is a challenge at the best of times. The war has made that challenge next to impossible, with Gaza's sporting infrastructure now demolished.
Only one Palestinian athlete, 18-year-old Omar Yaser Ismail, qualified for the Paris Games in his own right, earning his spot on the team at a taekwondo qualification tournament in China. The seven others were selected under a wild-card system designed to enable athletes from poorer nations to compete.
Athletes who missed out included Gaza-based weightlifter Muhammad Hamada, Palestine’s flag bearer at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, who continued training even as Israeli bombs rained down on the enclave but eventually lost too much weight due to the shortage of food.
Children of Gaza ‘the real heroes’
Ahead of the Olympics, the POC’s technical director Nader Jayousi told FRANCE 24 his delegation would aim to send a “message of peace” to the world, while also hoping to inspire “our children whose dreams have been shattered by bombs and rockets”.
Ismail, the taekwondo fighter, was inconsolable on Wednesday as his dreams of an Olympic medal were abruptly extinguished in the French capital’s majestic Grand Palais.
The Palestinian was within five seconds of reaching the third round in the 58kg weight division until a kick to the head by his Spanish opponent sent him crashing out of the tournament. He fell to his knees in tears, his efforts rewarded by a lengthy ovation from the crowd.
“All of this, it’s for Palestine,” Ismail had told reporters ahead of the fight. “It’s true that we play and fight, but the real heroes are the children of Palestine and the children of Gaza.”
Palestinian-American swimmer Valerie Tarazi, who competed in the 200-metre individual medley, echoed his words, telling Reuters: “Every time I swim, every time I jump in the pool, I'm thinking about the people of Palestine, their struggles. And I just want to represent them in the best way possible.”
Al-Bawwab said he did not expect recognition for his performance in the pool, which saw him post one of the slowest times in the 100-metre backstroke heats.
“Other athletes are here to talk about their medals and their times, but nobody cares about my medals, my times,” he said. “I’m here to talk about a war going on in my country. It's unfortunate, but this is my role and I’m very proud to carry the flag and send this message to the world.”
