Arab states prepare for Paris 2024 Olympics amid security concerns and calls for anti-Israel boycotts
As the world gears up for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, Arab states are actively preparing to protect their athletes amid the ongoing war in Gaza.
The Summer Olympic Games collectively constitute the world’s largest sports event and is, therefore, considered to be a tempting target for terrorist activities. Several Arab states have decided to send security forces to accompany their athletes to the French capital.
"Our preparations to secure the Paris 2024 Olympics are completed. The force is entirely set to fulfill its mission," stated Qatari Interior Minister Sheikh Khalifa Al Thani. "You not only represent yourselves but all of Qatar, the Emir and the entire Arab, Muslim nation.”
Some have criticized Qatar for sending troops to Paris to protect athletes but not to assist Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip amid the war between the Hamas terrorist organization and Israel.
United Arab Emirates Interior Minister Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan revealed in a post on 𝕏 that he personally met with representatives from the police and various security agencies who will accompany the athletes to France. The Emirati minister emphasized the importance of a secure sports event and called for equal treatment for all visitors from around the world.
However, anti-Israel voices in the Arab world and beyond are calling to boycott the Jewish state from participating in the Olympics because of the war in Gaza.
Anti-Israel online campaigns continue to call for the international community to block Israeli athletes from competing in the Summer Olympics.
"Israel's participation in Paris will give the games the taste of blood," stated one Arabic-language campaign message.
While politics is typically supposed to be separate from sports, anti-Israel propaganda cartoons depicting Israeli athletes as murderers with blood and armed with machine guns have shown up on social media. Another image depicts an Israeli tank with the famous Olympic logo emanating from its canon, allegedly a reference to Israeli archer Itai Shani, who was depicted as aiming his arrows at a Gazan child.
"He is not an athlete. He represents the murderous enemy," reads the accompanying text.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) recently announced that it would be represented by a delegation of 20 athletes in Paris that would represent "a platform for denouncing the war in Gaza."
The majority of PA athletes reportedly have foreign passports and reside outside of Gaza, or Judea and Samaria, internationally known as the West Bank.
The Summer Olympics event organizers in Paris are reportedly less worried about Israel’s participation in the competition and far more concerned about the threat of Islamist terrorism.
Last month, Paris Police Chief Laurent Nunez assessed the security threat.
French authorities are preparing for the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics set to begin on July 26.
“There is no clear-cut threat yet against the Games and our country but I’d like to remind you that at the end of May, two individuals were arrested in Saint-Etienne and were plotting a project aimed directly at the Olympic Games,” Nunez said.
The police chief emphasized that the terrorist threat “remains just as important as the protest threat posed by radical environmental groups, the ultra-left, and the pro-Palestinian movement.”
Due to widespread anti-Israel sentiments since the Gaza War, Israel has dramatically increased its security budget for the Israeli sports delegation at the Olympics.
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The All Israel News Staff is a team of journalists in Israel.
