27 July 2024: Palestinian boxer Waseem Abu Sal wore a shirt depicting children being bombed for the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics in a test for organisers who have strict rules on political statements, said an AFP report.
Abu Sal was one of two flag-bearers for the Palestinian delegation during the rain-soaked river parade along the Seine on Friday.
His white shirt had embroidered images of warplanes dropping missiles over children playing sport.
“This shirt represents the current picture in Palestine,” Abu Sal told AFP on Saturday.
“The children who are martyred and die under the rubble, children whose parents are martyred and are left alone without food or water.”
At least 39,258 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched a military campaign in retaliation for an October 7 attack by Hamas militants, according to figures from the Hamas-run health ministry.
Jibril Rajoub, president of the Palestine Olympic Committee, told AFP they had checked with the local organising committee of the Paris Olympics to see if Abu Sal’s shirt contravened Olympic regulations.
“It’s a message of peace. It’s a message to attract attention,” he said. “This is anti-war, against killing. This abides with the Olympic Charter.”
“We presented it, they approved it,” he added.
The Palestine Olympic Committee wrote to the IOC last week asking for a ban on Israeli athletes at the July 26-August 11 Paris Olympics, which has been rejected.
“We want to expose the suffering of our people, their legal, legitimate ambitions, through the athletes, through the Games, according to the Olympic Charter,” Rajoub said.
Boxer Abu Sal, 20, received a wildcard for the Olympics boxing.
He lives in the West Bank and is unable to train with his Cairo-based coach – a Gazan who cannot travel to him due to Israeli restrictions.
