Tears streamed from the eyes of Majid Abu Marahil as he entered the Olympic Stadium in Atlanta on July 19, 1996, carrying a giant Palestinian flag. During the opening of the Olympics, a member of the organization walked ahead holding a sign that read "Palestine." Their entrance was announced first by a woman who pronounced "Palestine" in French and a man who said it in English. This was the first time in Olympic history that Palestine was represented. The stadium had 80,000 spectators watching Marahil, along with millions worldwide on television. Professor Javier Gonzalez del Castillo, from the Olympic Studies Centre at the European University, viewed this event as "an important milestone in the journey of Palestine, not just concerning sports but also regarding its identity and the call for statehood, as it appeared for the first time on television screens as Palestine." This was a symbolic moment for the Palestinian people in their struggle for international recognition.
Majid, who carried the Palestinian flag at the Olympics, passed away in June. Historian San Charles Haddad told the BBC, "I knew Majid for a quarter of a century, and I never heard anyone say a single negative word about him, nor did I hear him say anything negative about anyone. His departure from this world with these local and international achievements is evidence that Majid was a rare character, and his loss is not only for his country but for the whole world."
In the days following the Atlanta Games, journalist Mark Sherman wrote in the Atlanta newspaper that Marahil was not concerned about medals or the idea of competing against the world's best runners in the 10,000-meter race. The 32-year-old runner only needed to meet the qualifying time and participate in the trials, making him the first Palestinian to compete in the Olympics under the Palestinian flag. He finished in 21st place in the trials.
Who is he? Marahil was born in 1963 in the Al-Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza, where his parents settled after fleeing from Beersheba. While working in Israel, Marahil maintained his fitness by running from his home in Gaza City to the Erez border crossing, about 20 kilometers north. When he won a race at a sports festival, Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian president at the time, awarded him a prize and asked about his job. He replied that he worked in Israel at a greenhouse for growing flowers and that he "runs to protect himself if something happens." The Palestinian leader smiled and said, "In the future, you will be my personal guard when I am in Gaza." This indeed happened, as he became part of Arafat's personal guard, and he appreciated that this work allowed him time to train.
Abu Marahil passed away in June 2024 at the age of 61. According to the Palestinian Olympic Committee, Marahil had no previous illnesses but suffered from severe inflammation in the recent conflict in Gaza, due to malnutrition and being displaced from his home in the Al-Nuseirat refugee camp. This led to kidney failure, during a time when treatment was unavailable. Unfortunately, his condition deteriorated after a brief recovery, leading him into a coma before he passed away.
