‘Our way of showing resistance’: Olympians raise Palestinian flag at Paris Games

 

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.” 

“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.”

https://www.france24.com/en/france/20240808-our-way-of-showing-resistance-olympians-raise-flag-of-palestine-at-paris-games

 

SEE ALSO:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=298995613239279

 

 

READ FROM TOP

 

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

By Chris Hedges / Substack

 

The latest chapter of Israel’s occupation of Palestine has raged on for nearly the last year, marking a significant shift in the decades-long clash that has already initiated the demystification of the mythology behind Israel. Truth continues to be the first casualty of war in this particular struggle, as it has been massacred, through the killings of journalists in Gaza and the censorship of dissidents, throughout the conflict along with the Palestinians themselves. Unfortunately for Israel, however, the state’s lies and brutality this time are too severe to escape the eyes of the global stage, and even its own people. 

As David Hearst, co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of Middle East Eye, states in this interview: 

 

“There are huge tensions in Israel about how the war was prosecuted, particularly the central tension is the obvious fact that Israel has been killing its own hostages through military action, obviously. And the narrative from Israel that Israel is pushing Hamas to release hostages is nonsense. It is the exact opposite. The main killer of the hostages has been the bombing campaign. So there is a huge protest about getting the hostages home. And getting the hostages home means ending the war, basically.”

 

Hearst joins host Chris Hedges on the second episode of The Chris Hedges Report to offer a clear and direct explanation of the complexities surrounding the conflict, providing essential context on what to anticipate moving forward.

“What we’ve got to get really clear about is that our idea of left and right, or our idea of moderates and extremists, does not translate to Israeli realities. And when it comes to killing as many Palestinians as they can, everyone is up for it,” Hearst tells Hedges.

The brazen violence that journalists like Hearst and others have reported on is pulling Israel’s mask of nobility down, and revealing its true face as the “ugly, repressive, hate-filled apartheid regime it always has been.” 

Hearst claims that “there is a blood lust going through Israel.” He proves this point through stories of the brutality, demonstrating how for Israel “there’s absolutely no attempt to distinguish between someone carrying a gun or a rocket launcher and someone carrying a bottle of water.” In other words, all Palestinians are automatically “terrorists” — guilty of crimes punishable by death — to the Israelis. 

This indiscriminate tactic of killing has exposed Israel for what it truly is. The live streamed suffering of the Palestinians, and the violence of the Israelis, is too great for the apartheid regime to hide once the genocide is over. Israel will become synonymous with its victims, just as the violent regimes of the past have.

 

https://scheerpost.com/2024/08/07/israels-mask-is-slipping-w-david-hearst-the-chris-hedges-report/

 

 

READ FROM TOP

 

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

Starving the citizens of Gaza could be a “just” way of forcing Hamas to release hostages, but this would spark outrage from the global community, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has complained.

Israel controls the flow of humanitarian aid entering the besieged Palestinian enclave but its distribution is managed by aid groups within Gaza.

Speaking at a right-wing conference earlier this week, Smotrich said Israel was being forced to allow aid into the enclave “because there is no choice,”and because West Jerusalem needs “international legitimacy” to wage its war against Hamas.

He argued that Israel is unable to use humanitarian aid to pressure the Palestinian militant group because today’s global reality makes this “impossible.”

“No one in the world would let us starve and thirst two million citizens, even though it may be just and moral until [Hamas] return our hostages,” he said.

Smotrich suggested that, if the distribution of aid within Gaza was controlled by Israel, then the current war would have already ended and the hostages captured by the Palestinian fighters on October 7 would have been returned.

“You cannot fight Hamas with one hand and give them aid with the other,” Smotrich added, claiming that humanitarian aid is the Palestinian militia’s “money,” “fuel,” and its method of “civilian control” in Gaza.

The minister’s comments have been met with widespread outrage, including in the West. The EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell has called on West Jerusalem to distance itself from the remarks, arguing that starving civilians constituted a “war crime,” and that advocating for this was “beyond ignominious.”

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy has also called on the “wider Israeli government to retract and condemn”Smotrich’s comments, insisting that “there can be no justification” for his remarks.

Germany’s ambassador to Israel, Steffen Siebert, also called the finance minister’s statements “unacceptable and appalling,” and said it was a “principle of international law and of humanity to protect civilians in a war.”

Meanwhile, the issue of humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza has continued to raise concerns from the international community, with human rights organizations warning that the enclave remains at high risk of famine. 

The International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan has blamed Israel for the crisis and has sought arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for using “starvation as a method of war,” among other crimes.

Israel, however, has denied accusations of restricting aid deliveries to the Palestinians, instead suggesting that Hamas was stealing the resources.

https://www.rt.com/news/602331-israeli-minister-starving-gazans/

 

READ FROM TOP

 

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

Yahya Sinwar, the right man at the right time?

With Yahya Sinwar taking the reins, Hamas is poised to intensify the fight against Israel. A strategic man with deep ties to the Resistance Axis, Sinwar will aim to win both a ceasefire and a political victory for Palestinians everywhere.

 

BY A Cradle Contributor

 

The future of Palestine is at a critical juncture, marked by significant regional and international events reshaping the conflict with Israel, which introduces new challenges and fresh opportunities, both. 

One such event was Israel’s catastrophic 31 July assassination of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, where he was to attend the inauguration ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. 

Tel Aviv’s decision to assassinate the pragmatic, relatively moderate top Palestinian negotiator while he was a guest of the Islamic Republic was seen as a blatant transgression of all boundaries. This act was also intended to eliminate any prospects of a lasting ceasefire, which Tel Aviv views as a political defeat of its war on Gaza.

The martyrdom of Haniyeh at such a critical juncture raised questions regarding the future leadership of the Palestinian resistance movement, particularly given the assassination of his deputy, Saleh al-Arouri, in Beirut’s southern suburb earlier this year. 

It was the same area in which Israel killed Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr just a day before Haniyeh’s assassination.

For the past 10 months, Gaza’s Palestinians have faced what can be described as a war of extermination, with the Israeli occupation targeting all facets of Palestinian life and systematically eliminating resistance leaders both domestically and abroad. 

Thus, the announcement this week of Yahya Sinwar’s election as Haniyeh’s successor in Gaza was both a surprise to the Israeli occupation and a cause for celebration among Palestinians and their factions.

Why Yahya Sinwar? Why now? 

Sinwar was a natural choice for several reasons. He was Haniyeh’s deputy and the head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which positioned him as the immediate successor following Arouri’s assassination. 

As a leading architect of last year’s Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, Sinwar’s appointment can be seen as a direct challenge to Tel Aviv, reaffirming Hamas’ commitment to armed resistance and demonstrating confidence in his strategic capabilities.

Furthermore, Sinwar’s close relationship with the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing, enables him to effectively manage both the political and military affairs of the movement. His strong connections with key regional allies, including Iran, Hezbollah, and the broader Resistance Axis, bolster Hamas’ strategic position. 

Another considered candidate for the top post, Khaled Meshaal, despite being Haniyeh’s deputy and a former head of the political bureau, chose not to throw his hat into the leadership ring this time around.

Meshaal, whose relations with Tehran and Damascus have been strained due to his support for the Syrian opposition, had earlier indicated his unwillingness to lead. This enables him to focus on diplomatic efforts and maintaining relationships with key Hamas political and financial partners like Qatar and Turkiye. 

His decision paved the way for a unanimous consensus on Sinwar’s leadership, deemed more suited for the current militarized context, in which tested and solid ties with Tehran and other members of West Asia’s Axis of Resistance are viewed as essential. 

New challenges under Sinwar’s watch 

Although Hamas’ political bureau and General Shura Council, led by interim caretaker Abu Omar Hassan, elected Yahya Sinwar as the movement’s new leader, his appointment has received widespread support from Palestinian factions and national figures, who see it as a continuation of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and the rightful political response to the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh.

But what does this succession mean for the future of negotiations and a lasting ceasefire in Gaza? Sinwar, it should be noted, has overseen past negotiations, managed the Palestinian prisoners’ file, and has an in-depth understanding of Israeli society, having spent over 20 years in Israeli prisons where he learned Hebrew. 

He is, therefore, expected to maintain the talks currently underway, which will be led by the deputy head of Hamas in Gaza, Khalil al-Hayya, under Sinwar’s general supervision. 

Palestinian reconciliation, regional alliances

On 23 July, an agreement was signed in Beijing, China, between Fatah, Hamas, and other Palestinian factions, with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s oversight. Sinwar supports reconciliation and the formation of the proposed national unity government, an important breakthrough for Palestinian unification. 

His history of engineering the Beach Agreement in 2014 and handing over crossings to the Palestinian Authority (PA) in 2017 demonstrates his commitment to national partnership and reconciliation, even with US and Israeli-backed PA President Mahmoud Abbas. Sinwar is expected to strengthen these efforts further in his new leadership role. 

At the regional level, the new Hamas chief prioritizes relationships with Iran, Lebanon, and Egypt. Despite having normalized relations with Israel, Cairo is seen by Sinwar as a crucial neighbor due to its proximity to Gaza and historical interactions. Equally, he looks to Lebanon for Hezbollah’s support and Iran for its strategic backing and provision of weapons and expertise. 

One of Sinwar’s speeches summarized his regional outlook. In it, he invoked a hadith of the Prophet Muhammad: “A soldier in the Levant, a soldier in Iraq, and a soldier in Yemen,” which reflects his strategic vision of the Unity of Fronts. 

Additionally, Sinwar has expressed interest in strengthening ties with Russia and China, indicating his broad international vision of a multipolar order. 

A defining moment for the Palestinian resistance 

A formidable threat to the Israeli occupation, Sinwar is viewed by Tel Aviv as the primary architect of Al-Aqsa Flood. Israeli leadership, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, believes the conflict cannot end without Sinwar’s assassination. 

Hamas, therefore, faces the challenge of protecting its current leader, while Sinwar must continue to confront and lead the resistance against the US-backed occupation army. 

Should Israel’s campaign of ethnic cleansing subside with Sinwar still leading, substantial changes are anticipated. He has the potential to transform the resilience of Gaza’s people into political achievements and strengthen ties throughout West Asia’s Axis of Resistance. 

The coming days present both challenges and opportunities for Hamas under Yahya Sinwar’s leadership. The movement has a real chance to solidify its position and implement substantial policy and strategic shifts, coinciding with enhanced tactical support from Tehran, Sanaa, and Beirut as they prepare for long-overdue reprisals against the occupation entity.

 

https://thecradle.co/articles/yahya-sinwar-the-right-man-at-the-right-time

 

 

READ FROM TOP

 

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

Why The Zionist Entity Decided To Take The Risk Of Regional War?

An all-out regional war will result in the annihilation of the Zionist Entity, for even with direct US involvement, the Zionists still can't win.

 

BY Robert Inlakesh

 

Despite the Israeli-US alliance pulling off two high-profile assassinations within hours and posed as if they are ready for an all-out war, it is clear that they could only handle a regional conflagration which would quickly end in a stalemate. If this escalation goes the wrong way, however, there are only two options left for them, and both are terrible.

The Zionist Entity was faced with a choice, after failing to reach victory in Gaza: either end the war or escalate. It was clear from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to the US Congress that the leader of the Entity was bent on escalation and that he would receive bipartisan support in the United States for carrying out actions designed to achieve the desired goal.

Finding their justification in the massacre of 12 Syrian-Druze children in the occupied Golan Heights, quickly jumping to accuse Hezbollah, the Israeli military launched their attack on a multi-story building in southern Beirut. While the Zionists attempted to use the blood of the indigenous people of the Golan, living in Majdal Shams, for their own propaganda purposes, the people refused to allow them and blamed the Zionists for the massacre in their village, as Hezbollah vehemently denied any involvement.

The timing of the massacre came at a convenient time for the Zionist Regime, as the Israeli PM was at the tail end of his trip to the United States. Shortly afterward, the Israelis murdered seven Lebanese and injured around 80 in their attack on the southern suburbs of Beirut. The primary target was Hezbollah military leader Fouad Shokor, who was martyred along with three children and two women on Tuesday, July 30. Then, just hours later, the Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in the Iranian capital, Tehran.

None of this is by accident and the suggestion that the United States was not involved is simply ludicrous.

What Is The US-Israeli Strategy?

An all-out regional war will result in the annihilation of the Zionist Entity, for even with direct US involvement, the Zionists still can't win. Even if we assume that nuclear weapons might be used, the firepower of the Resistance is such that the Israelis would experience a similar blow from the sheer scale of missile power directed toward them.  

 

Knowing that victory is not possible, it appears evident, therefore, that strategies are in place to prevent a war from reaching its inevitable conclusion. The Israelis and Americans are frustrated by their devastating failures since the Hamas-led October 7 attack, whether it be in the inability of the Zionist military to secure a victory against the Palestinian Resistance in Gaza, or the US' embarrassing defeat at the hands of Yemen’s Ansar Allah. The blows dealt to the Zionist Entity, in the security, military, political, societal, and economic spheres, are so great that it is unclear how they can ever recover.

Faced with such a predicament, the US-Israeli alliance had two options, either accept the strategic defeat and pursue a diplomatic solution to the chaos they have wrought over the past 10 months, or, escalate. The assassinations in Beirut and Tehran indicate they chose escalation.

The Israelis themselves have conducted two major war games over the past years, testing the capabilities of the Zionist military to fight a multi-front war, losing both times. Keep in mind that these military exercises were also conducted while assuming that the full strength of the Israeli military would be intact. At this time, the Zionist army is stretched thin, it is undertrained, overworked, and suffers from a lack of motivation and discipline. Additionally, it has lost many of its tanks and armored personnel carriers, as thousands have been damaged and destroyed in Gaza.

It suffices to say that Israel does not possess the capacity to fight the war it is pursuing, which is why the assassinations came as such a shock to many. However, as I have previously written here for Al Mayadeen, the Israelis had one last option left to prolong the war and the strategy is as follows:

Open up a war with Lebanon, but attempt to keep it limited to trade off blows and close the conflict with a stalemate. A war with Hezbollah will bring great carnage to Israeli infrastructure and result in scores of dead Israelis, thereby distracting the population from the war in the Gaza Strip. This would create an environment that could enable the Israeli prime minister to close a ceasefire deal with Hamas in Gaza. From there, the Zionist regime could then pivot to the West Bank, annexing around 60% of its territory and launching a military operation – similar to “Operation Defensive Shield” in 2002 – to murder the majority of the Resistance fighters there. 

Under such a scenario, Benjamin Netanyahu will use the assassinations of Resistance leaders as trophies to brag about a supposed victory, while presenting the argument that his regime confronted an existential threat from multiple foes and survived. He will then use the land grab in the West Bank as proof of conquest and the killing of Resistance fighters there as a “security” achievement. This situation is what both the US and their Israeli allies see as the best-case scenario. 

However, the situation could quickly spiral out of control and the damage done to the Zionist Entity could prove so great that it remains only a shell of itself if it manages to survive at all. It is a dangerous strategy, to say the very least, and although they may see it as a bold attempt to restore US-Israeli hegemony in West Asia, it also projects weakness and a lack of options. Such a risk, which could result in the end of the Zionist Entity, would only be taken if their backs were against the wall.

If this goes sideways for the Zionists, then they will likely have two options left. The first will be the infamous Samson Option, to use their nuclear weapons. The second could involve the deployment of regional forces into occupied Palestine to prevent the fall of the Zionist Entity.

The first option needs no further explanation; it is pure terror. The second has not been publicly discussed as of now but could also be implemented if it looks like the Israeli regime is about to collapse on the ground and Palestinian territory is close to liberation. If such an event occurs, it is plausible that the Jordanian and Egyptian armies could be deployed into occupied Palestine, in order to prevent the land from being taken over by Resistance fighters who are less likely to engage regional armies, this would also likely involve the presence of the Turkish armed forces who could potentially be deployed as well. Although there is no evidence to support this theory, it might be seen as the only way to de-escalate the situation if the Zionist Entity is on the brink of disintegration.

Regardless, the Zionists have gambled, and only time will tell how this will turn out. 

 

https://english.almayadeen.net/articles/analysis/why-the-zionist-entity-decided-to-take-the-risk-of-regional

 

READ FROM TOP

 

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.