To the chants of "Long live Palestine" and "From Paris to Gaza, resistance, resistance," the Palestinian delegation arrived in the French capital on Thursday morning to participate in the Summer Olympics in Paris, just days after demanding the exclusion of Israel from the games due to its "violation of the Olympic truce" amid the ongoing war in Gaza. At 6:17 AM Paris time (4:17 AM GMT), a plane carrying most of the Palestinian delegation from Ramallah, via the Jordanian capital Amman, landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Roissy, led by Olympic Committee President Jibril Rajoub who will represent President Mahmoud Abbas at the official opening ceremony on Friday along the Seine River.
Athletes who had been in Paris for training camps joined them at the airport, while about a hundred people gathered to welcome the delegation, chanting slogans while holding Palestinian flags, wearing keffiyehs, and distributing sweets and dates to those present. As judo player Fares Badawi handed out keffiyehs, Rebecca, a 25-year-old New Zealand student came to support Palestinians, said, "I am a human being, I have a heart, I have empathy, I see what is happening in Gaza now as genocide."
Meanwhile, housewife Awa'atif, born in France to a Tunisian father, added, "We are very sensitive to what is happening and we want to show our support, even if our governments are not doing the right thing, even if we do not recognize the Palestinian state although it is an original state."
The Israeli football team played its first match against Mali at the "Parc des Princes" stadium on Wednesday in Paris, ending in a 1-1 draw, just two days before the opening ceremony. More than a thousand police officers ensured the safety of the match, which was classified by security forces as "high risk." All eyes were on Valérie Terzi, born in the United States, who grew up near stars of the U.S. swimming team.
