Israeli Olympic team barred from showing solidarity with hostages, Palestinian athlete allowed to wear shirt with bombs

International Olympic Committee bars Israeli athletes from wearing yellow ribbons in solidarity with hostages held captive in Gaza – but permits a Palestinian competitor to wear a shirt showing warplanes bombing children.

By World Israel News Staff

The International Olympic Committee has drawn accusations of bias after the Palestinian Authority Olympic team arrived in Paris Thursday, displaying imagery overtly referencing the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, despite a strict ban on political images and commentary.

On Friday, the Palestinian Authority’s delegation participated in the flag-bearing ceremony along the Seine to mark the opening of the Paris Olympic games.

The two-member team included 20-year-old boxer Waseem Abu Sal, who used the ceremony as an opportunity to display his shirt, which included images of warplanes bombing children.

Abu Sal later acknowledged in an interview with AFP that his attire was an overt reference to current events in Gaza.

“This shirt represents the current picture in Palestine,” Abu Sal said. “The children who are martyred and die under the rubble, children whose parents are martyred and are left alone without food or water.”

Earlier this month, however, according to a report by Kan, the International Olympic Committee rejected a request by the Israeli team to wear yellow ribbons as a sign of solidarity with hostages still held captive in the Gaza Strip, claiming the ribbons violated the committee’s ban on political imagery.

According Jibril Rajoub, head of the Palestine Olympic Committee, Olympic officials had not objections to Abu Sal’s shirt.

“It’s a message of peace. It’s a message to attract attention,” Rajoub said. “This is anti-war, against killing. This abides with the Olympic Charter.”

“We presented it, they approved it,” he added.

Rajoub last week penned a letter to the International Olympic Committee, lobbying them to exclude all Israeli athletes, accusing Israel of violating the Olympic Charter.

“The double standard policies is not good for the message of sport, or those who have good intentions.”