23 July 2024
The Olympics start here in Paris on Friday.
Azhar Sakoor is executive member of the Palestine Solidarity Alliance Youth League in South Africa.
The group has organised a petition urging "for the ban of Israel from participating in the Olympic Games. This action would mirror the historic decision to ban apartheid South Africa from international sporting events due to its policies of racial segregation and oppression.
"The parallels between the apartheid policies once practiced by South Africa and those currently enforced by Israel against the Palestinian people are unmistakable. As South Africans who have lived through and triumphed over apartheid, we have a moral obligation to stand against similar injustices wherever they occur.
"The Olympic Games are a global symbol of unity, peace, and respect for human dignity. Allowing Israel to participate despite its ongoing violations of international law and human rights undermines these core values. Just as the international community rallied to isolate apartheid South Africa, we must now call for the exclusion of Israel from the Olympics until it ends its discriminatory practices and respects the rights of the Palestinian people."
See from Human Rights Watch: "World Court Finds Israel Responsible for Apartheid."
Al Jazeera reports: "Athletes from Russia and Belarus were banned from world sport following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but the IOC [International Olympic Committee] orchestrated their gradual return under a neutral banner, subject to strict conditions."
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