This Is How the Gaza War Cast Its Shadow over the 2024 Paris Olympics

Hours before the start of the Paris Olympics, France was hit by arson attacks on its high-speed rail network, and an airport was closed after a bomb threat, while “Israel” accused Iran of seeking to target its players.

In contrast, Palestinian flags were raised from Charles de Gaulle Airport to the streets of the capital, Paris, amid demands to ban the Israeli delegation from participating in the Olympic Games.

Despite French President Emmanuel Macron welcoming the Israeli delegation, after political demands to prevent it from participating by leftist movement deputies, demonstrations denouncing this participation did not stop.

There have been calls recently to exclude Israel from the sporting event due to its war on the Gaza Strip, similar to the exclusion of athletes from Russia and Belarus due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but those responsible for the event have pleaded political neutrality.

Paris Olympics

Saboteurs have targeted France's high-speed rail network in a coordinated series of attacks that have caused major disruptions to some of the country's busiest rail lines ahead of the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, while authorities said Basel-Mulhouse airport was briefly closed after a bomb threat.

The state-owned rail operator said saboteurs targeted facilities along networks linking Paris to cities such as Lille in the north, Bordeaux in the west and Strasbourg in the east.

The company urged all passengers to postpone their journeys. Repairs are underway but train traffic will be severely affected for at least several days as trains are returned to their departure points.

No one has yet claimed responsibility and there is no indication whether the attacks have any political dimensions.

Coordinated attacks on the railway network have heightened concerns ahead of the opening ceremony of the Olympics in the heart of the capital, Paris, on the evening of July 24, 2024.

France is adopting an intensive security operation to secure the Olympics, deploying more than 45,000 police, 10,000 soldiers and 2,000 private security personnel, while snipers are stationed on rooftops, with surveillance from the air using drones.

On the other hand, Basel-Mulhouse Airport on the French-Swiss border announced the resumption of air traffic after it was temporarily suspended due to a bomb threat that led to its evacuation.

In turn, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz also accused Iran of planning to attack the Israeli delegation participating in the Olympic Games in France, while Tehran described these accusations as lies and deception.

Katz said, “Increased preventive measures must be taken to thwart their plot. The free world must stop Iran now – before it’s too late.”

He added that “the sabotage of railway infrastructure across France ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics was planned and executed under the influence of Iran’s axis of evil and radical Islam.”

Neutrality or Double Standards?

The French newspaper Le Monde published a report in which it talked about the effects of the devastating Israeli war in Gaza over the Olympic Games in Paris.

On France 2 and Radio France, French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the Israeli athletes, saying they should be able to compete under their own flag.

The newspaper indicated that Macron sought through his statement to counter calls from within France, Palestine and Iran against the participation of Israeli athletes in the games due to the ongoing massacres in Gaza.

The Palestinian Olympic Committee also called for the exclusion of Israeli athletes, arguing that Israel violated the Olympic truce declared by the International Olympic Committee after carrying out a bombing campaign in Gaza that resulted in civilian casualties.

The Palestinian request, which states that about 400 athletes from Gaza have been killed during the nine-month war, was addressed to IOC President Thomas Bach, as well as to Gianni Infantino, his counterpart at the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA).

The French president has promoted a political truce around the world and within France throughout the Games, but it is not clear how many countries or individuals are responding to this call.

On its part, the IOC rejected the Palestinian request to exclude Israel, declaring its neutrality.

Politicians and activists also pointed out that there are international institutions that apply double standards and insist on not adhering to the Olympic Charter, laws, or sports ethics.

They have called for an end to the double standards and have called for the Israeli flag and national anthem to be banned during the Games, as happened with Russia over the past two years due to the war in Ukraine.

Russia has also worked to amplify criticism of the IOC’s decision to allow Israel to compete as a nation at the Olympics. 

Following comments by International Olympic Committee officials saying that Israeli athletes shouldn’t be held responsible for the Israeli government’s actions, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called the stance outrageous, considering the committee’s stance on Russia.

Like Russia and Ukraine, the ongoing war in Gaza has continued despite the seven-day Olympic truce ahead of the opening of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Political Controversy

Experts have suggested that global political events will affect the Paris Olympics, especially the Israeli war on Gaza and the Russian-Ukrainian war, while observers have predicted that the Israeli delegation participating in the Olympics will face harassment.

American political scientist and former professional soccer player Jules Boykoff said that the Paris Olympics are the most geopolitically charged Olympic Games in decades.

Tensions and political charges have escalated, with positions announced by a number of lawmakers and political actors in France, on Israel's participation in the Olympics.

MP Thomas Portes, from the ultra-left France Unbowed party, sparked controversy when he told a pro-Palestinian gathering that Israeli athletes and the political delegation are not welcome at the Olympic Games in Paris, according to Reuters.

“The Israeli flag, stained with the blood of innocent Gazans, should not fly in Paris this summer,” left-wing MP Aymeric Caron wrote.

In turn, Macron defended the participation of the Israeli teams, noting that the situations in Russia and Israel are completely different, because Israel responded to a terrorist attack.

Israeli media reported that at least 15 members of the 88-person Israeli delegation received emails warning of a repeat of the 1972 Munich attacks.

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin announced last week that his country would provide 24-hour protection for Israeli athletes during the Olympic Games.

In 1972, the city of Munich in West Germany hosted the Olympic Games.

Eight Palestinians from a group called Black September attacked the Israeli sports delegation at the time, and took nine out of 11 Israelis hostage, two of whom were killed while resisting the attack.

The Palestinians demanded the release of 200 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, which Israel refused.

When the request was refused, they demanded two planes to take them to the Egyptian capital, Cairo. 

However, the two planes landed at a German military airport belonging to NATO, and the planes were fired upon by German snipers and Israeli special forces.

The hostages and five Palestinians were killed, and three others were captured.