Global Campaign Urges Ban on Israel from 2024 Paris Olympics Over Genocide in Gaza

Pro-Palestine activists have initiated the hashtag #BanIsraelFromParisOlympics on social media to pressure organizers to prevent Israeli athletes from participating in the Games, which are scheduled to begin on July 26.

The campaigners argue that "celebrating the human values of the Olympics contradicts Israel’s oppressive and genocidal practices against the Palestinians."

They questioned, "How do we celebrate human values while human rights are being brutally violated?," adding, "Olympics without Israel is the demand of everyone who believes in justice and humanity."

Demonstrations have taken place in European countries, including France and Switzerland, in front of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) headquarters, demanding the exclusion of Israeli sports teams from the Paris Olympics.

Activists carried Palestinian flags and banners reading, "No Olympic Games for perpetrators of genocide," "Genocide is not a sport," "Stop the genocide of Palestinians," and "Long live the resistance of the Palestinian people."

"Preventing Russia and Belarus from the Olympics previously and allowing Israel to participate this year is a clear use of double standards," they stated.

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin assured that France "will provide 24-hour protection for Israeli athletes during the Olympic Games, which will begin in Paris next Friday."

French leftist MP Thomas Porte has called for preventing Israeli athletes from participating in the upcoming Olympic Games, urging efforts to be mobilized for this cause during the event.

In January, French MP Aymeric Caron called on the IOC to prevent Israel from participating in the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, similar to the ban on Russia, due to the genocidal war in the Gaza Strip.

In May, the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) submitted a request to the IOC to exclude Israel from the Olympic Games.