PARIS: The presence of Palestinian athletes at the Paris Olympic Games is already a major victory for the team amid the conflict in the Middle East, they said on Saturday, less than a week before the start of the Olympics.

The Palestinian team for the Games starting on Friday consists of six athletes who will be competing in boxing, judo, taekwondo, shooting and swimming, with slim hopes of a medal.

“Whether a medal or not, we already win,” swimmer Yazan Al Bawwab, who will be the team’s flag bearer during the opening ceremony, said. “The fact that we’re here. The fact that people don’t want us to be here, they don’t want us to play sports. They don’t want us to exist. People don’t want Palestinians to exist. They look at the flag and they don’t want it. So to be here is a win.”

About 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 were seized and taken as hostages to Gaza in an attack on southern Israel led by Hamas on October 7, according to Israeli tallies. The Israeli military offensive launched in response in Gaza has killed almost 39,000 Palestinians, health officials in the Palestinian enclave say. Israel says 326 of its soldiers have been killed in Gaza.

In the run-up to the Paris Olympics, Palestinian athletes had been given support by Arab states, including Kuwait, Qatar, Libya and Egypt, to allow training in those countries.Palestinian sports officials have said that since the start of the conflict in October 2023 more than 300 athletes, referees and sports officials have been killed and all sports facilities in Gaza demolished.

“I said it before but I’m one of the luckiest people in the world,” swimmer Valerie Tarazi said. “I have the opportunity to compete for my country, to raise the flag for my country. My heart is with them. 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.”

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2024