With the 2024 Summer Olympics underway in Paris, social media users have called into question whether the International Olympic Committee is consistently enforcing its mandate that participating athletes “apply political neutrality” during official Olympic events, particularly in regard to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
One viral tweet highlighted two separate claims:
- A Palestinian Olympic athlete received approval to wear a shirt showing bombs dropping on children playing soccer.
- Israeli Olympic athletes were “forbidden” from displaying “a yellow ribbon pin showing solidarity with the hostages [held in Gaza].”
The image was also shared by Israeli journalist Hananya Naftali.
Both claims are true. The French news agency Agence France-Presse reported Saturday that 20-year-old Palestinian boxer Waseem Abu Sal had worn the shirt when the Palestinian delegation made its entrance in Friday’s Olympic opening ceremony on the Seine river.
“This shirt represents the current picture in Palestine,” Abu Sal said in the article. “The children who are martyred and die under the rubble, children whose parents are martyred and are left alone without food or water.”
The president of the Palestine Olympic Committee, Jibril Rajoub, also confirmed to AFP that Abu Sal had worn the shirt—and that the shirt was preapproved by the local organizing committee.
“It’s a message of peace. It’s a message to attract attention,” he told the French news agency. “This is anti-war, against killing. This abides with the Olympic Charter. … We presented it, they approved it.”
The Dispatch Fact Check reached out to Paris 2024, the IOC, and the Palestine Olympic Committee for comment. We will update the piece if we get a response.
As for the second claim in the viral graphic, Israeli public broadcasting reported earlier this month that a number of Israeli Olympians requested permission to wear pins. Israeli cyclist Rotem Gafinovitz had reportedly requested that the IOC approve the yellow ribbon display but the committee did not respond to the request. The IOC has not commented publicly on the matter.
We have reached out to the IOC and the Israel Olympic Committee for comment.
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