No article found for “McKercher LLP?action=edit&redlink=1”.

Palestine at the 1996 Summer Olympics

☆ Save On Wikipedia ↗
Palestine at the
1996 Summer Olympics
A flag showing a horizontal tricolour of black, white, and green; with a red triangle based at the hoist.
IOC codePLE
NOCPalestine Olympic Committee
Websitewww.poc.ps (in Arabic)
in Atlanta, United States
19 July 1996 (1996-07-19) – 4 August 1996 (1996-08-04)
Competitors1 (1 man) in 1 sport
Flag bearer Majed Abu Maraheel
Officials1
Medals
Gold
0
Silver
0
Bronze
0
Total
0
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)

Palestine competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States, which were held from 19 July to 4 August 1996. The nation's participation at these Games marked its debut at the Olympic Games. The delegation consisted of fifteen people with one athlete that had competed, long-distance runner Majed Abu Maraheel. Middle-distance runner Ihab Salama and boxer Rashid Judeh were also named as athletes though they did not compete, with the former arriving in Atlanta yet not competing and the latter being barred from competing due to sparse international experience.

A predecessor to the contemporary Palestine Olympic Committee (POC), another Palestine Olympic Committee was established in 1933 during the British Mandate of Palestine through the Maccabi Sports Association and was recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) the following year. During its activity, teams representing Palestine were invited to compete at the 1936 and 1948 Summer Olympics, though no team was sent to either edition. It lost recognition in 1967 though a contemporary POC was established in the mid-1970s by the Palestine Supreme Council of Youth Care. Following the ratification of the Oslo Accords in 1993, the IOC gave provisional recognition to the POC before it became a full member in 1995.

Before the start of the 1996 Summer Games, the Israeli government objected to the use of the name "Palestine" as a representation for the team though the IOC rejected the objection and let the Palestinian team use the name. For the opening ceremony, Abu Maraheel was named the flag bearer during the Parade of Nations. During the Palestinian team's stay in Atlanta, the delegations of the POC and Olympic Committee of Israel often conversed with each other and discussed about using the event as leverage for further peace in the region. Abu Maraheel competed in the men's 10,000 metres and placed 21st in his preliminary heat without advancing to the finals.

Background

A letter from Arthur Balfour to Lord Rothschild declaring "His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."
The Balfour Declaration contained in the original letter from Arthur Balfour delivered to Lord Rothschild

In 1917, the government of Britain stated through the Balfour Declaration that it was in support of "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people" and that no measures should be taken to deprive the liberties of non-Jewish communities in Palestine.[1] Mandatory Palestine was then established in 1920,[2] and the British government obtained a Mandate for Palestine from the League of Nations in 1922.[3] The terms of the Mandate encompass the entire population, though Jewish and Palestinian communities had different agendas in politics and sport.[4] Sports teams from both communities, largely football, often participated in competitions with each other, but separate leagues also existed to maintain their different agendas.[5]

In 1924, the Jewish-oriented Maccabi Sports Association applied to represent Palestine for the International Amateur Athletic Federation but was rejected on the grounds that it did not represent the entire populace of the nation. The following year, the association formed the Palestinian Football Federation and applied for membership in FIFA, reaching out to Hapoel (the Maccabi Sports Association's ideological rival) and Palestinian Arab teams for a more balanced organisation.[5]

On 26 April 1927, the Zionist-focused newspaper Palestine Bulletin published an article entitled "Palestine and Olympic Games" written by its London correspondent Khalid Ijawi. Ijawi questioned whether the nation was to send a delegation to the 1928 Summer Olympics, also assuming that a Palestinian delegation could join the British delegation at the games.[6] Prior to their recognition by the IOC, representative delegations organised by Hapoel and the Maccabi Sports Association competed in editions of the International Workers' Olympiad, the Maccabiah Games, and the Mediterranean Athletics Championships.[7]

Initial recognition, invitations to the Olympics, and Israeli participation

The Palestine Olympic Committee (POC) was formed in 1933 and had applied for International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognition the following year through the Maccabi Sports Association. Under the rules of the committee, it was to "represent the Jewish National Home", and then was denied recognition as its rules and the committee (composed of Jewish members) did not represent the entire population of Mandatory Palestine.[6] Per the Historical Dictionary of the Olympic Movement, the committee was more of a precursor to the Olympic Committee of Israel (OCI).[8] The association then invited Arab businessman Ali al-Mustaqim and a few Christian officials to join the committee, with the former becoming the vice president of the committee.[6] The committee eventually gained recognition at the 32nd IOC Session in Athens on 16 May of the same year.[9] By the time of their recognition, they had seven Jewish members, one Arab member, and one British member.[10] Though, Arab representation in the committee dissolved due to heightened tensions between native Palestinian and Jewish communities.[6] Eventually, the committee were invited to compete at the 1936 Summer Olympics held in Nazi Germany but rejected the invite because of the persecution of Jews by the Nazis.[11]

In 1944, the Arab Palestine Sports Federation was revived, with more Palestinian Arabs competing in organised sport and better support. With this, Arab Palestinian athletes such as boxer Adib al-Dasouqi, who gained success in the Arab world during the 1930s and '40s, were hoping to compete at the 1948 Summer Olympics.[12] Though, funds for sport deteriorated after a possibility of another conflict arising.[13] On 1 March 1946, a conference was held in Tel Aviv-Jaffa in order to discuss Palestine's possible participation at the Summer Games. Most of the Jewish attendees of the conference was in support of sending a delegation which included the football team.[14] The committee was eventually invited by the 1948 London Organising Committee but Israel had declared independence two months before the Games, leading to the 1948 Palestine war and the expulsion of over 700,000 Palestinian Arabs.[15][16] This led to a possible boycott by Arab states, including withdrawals from International Sporting Federations and competing in international competition if Israel was to compete at the 1948 Summer Games.[14] The invite was withdrawn by the IOC, stating Israel was not invited due to an absence of a National Olympic Committee.[17][15][16]

By November 1951, Hapoel and the Maccabi Sports Association made an agreement to establish the OCI in order to compete at the Olympics and regulate organised sport.[18] The committee was recognised the following year and competed at the 1952 Summer Olympics, competing at every edition of the Summer Olympics since then with the exception of the 1980 Summer Olympics.[16][19]

Reestablishment and recognition of the Palestine Olympic Committee

The POC lost recognition from the IOC in 1967, coinciding with the Six-Day War and the start of the occupation of the Palestinian territories by Israel.[20] The Palestine Supreme Council of Youth Care (later the Palestine Supreme Council for Youth and Sports) was established the following year by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), later holding a conference in the mid-1970s[a] in Souk El Gharb, Lebanon, to reestablish the committee.[22]

Since its reestablishment, the POC joined the Union of Arab National Olympic Committees in order to campaign for recognition by the IOC once more.[22] In 1979, the POC applied for recognition but was denied, with Khalidi & Raab (2017) stating that the Munich massacre in 1972 carried out by Black September was one of the factors leading to the rejection.[23] In the same year, the Palestine Supreme Council for Youth and Sports stated that a Palestinian delegation was invited to compete at the 1980 Summer Olympics, though was later denied by the IOC as it was not yet recognized.[24] Though, chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization Yasser Arafat was given a tour of the Olympic Village during the Games.[25] They had also considered applying for recognition again that same year though were persuaded by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) to delay the appeal.[22]

Due to the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the POC was forced to relocate their headquarters to Damascus, Syria, and then Tunis, Tunisia. The POC continued applying for IOC recognition and was invited to a meeting headed by the Global Association of International Sports Federations, with the POC meeting with members of the media to share their hopes for recognition.[26] In 1986, the POC was granted provisional recognition by the OCA though the decision was protested by the OCI which was denied membership in 1982.[27] The POC eventually became a member of the OCA in the same year.[28] After that, the POC was again forced to relocate their headquarters, relocating to Baghdad, Iraq, due to Israeli strikes on the PLO headquarters. In 1989, a petition regarding the POC's cause for recognition was circulated within the IOC.[26]

Following the ratification of the Oslo Accords in 1993, the IOC gave provisional recognition to the POC on 18 September 1993 during the 101st IOC Session in Monte Carlo, Monaco. In 1995, the IOC finally granted permanent membership to the committee.[26]

1996 Summer Olympics

The 1996 Summer Olympics were held from 19 July to 4 August 1996 in Atlanta, United States.[29] This edition of the Games marked Palestine's first appearance at the Olympic Games.[9]

Delegation

Size

According to The New York Times, a Palestinian sports official at the 1994 Asian Games held in Hiroshima, Japan, stated that the delegation hoped to send around 20 athletes. A year later, the estimate of the athletes to be sent dropped down to six.[20] In the year when the Olympic Games were going to be held, Nahil Mabrouk, the president of the Palestine Athletic Federation, stated that they aimed to send three athletes: long-distance runner Majed Abu Maraheel, racewalker Yasser Ali-Dib, who had emigrated to Cairo and was a bronze medalist at the 1995 Arab Athletics Championships in Cairo, Egypt,[30] and a female athlete who was going to be chosen by the West Bank branch of the POC.[20]

According to Muammar Bississo, the president of the Palestine Olympic Committee at the time, the delegation could have reached up to 40 athletes, but the government of Israel would not approve the necessary documents for the other Palestinian athletes to compete at the Games.[31] Ultimately, three named athletes were included for the delegation: Abu Maraheel, runner Ihab Salama, and boxer Rashid Judeh. Though, Judeh was barred from competing due to officials stating that he had sparse international experience.[32]

Final delegation

Prior to the 1996 Summer Games, Abu Maraheel was also a security guard for Force 17 while Salama was a footballer who had been entered as a runner as none of his teammates were allowed to compete at the Summer Games.[31] They trained for the Summer Games by running on roads and football fields as an athletics track was not present in the Gaza Strip.[33] The final Palestinian delegation consisted of fifteen members which included the athletes, judo and boxing coaches,[34] chef de mission Bississo,[33] deputy chef de mission Abdul-hamid Ghanem,[32] attaché Tawfiq Qiamari,[33] and envoy Victor Nassar.[34] An IOC donation fund allowed the Palestinian delegation to travel to Atlanta.[33] The cousin of Ghanem, Atlanta-based businessman Amin Ghamen, hosted a reception for the delegation at a restaurant in Gwinnett County.[32]

Before the start of the Summer Games, the Israeli government objected to the use of the name "Palestine" as a representation for the team, with a spokesman for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs stating that the delegation was using the Summer Games as a "political point". Member of the OCI Alex Gilady criticized the government due to the objection, further stating that it could affect the nation's negotiations with Palestinians and a possible debut at the 1997 Mediterranean Games. Ultimately, the IOC denied the objection and let the Palestinian team use the name.[35]

Opening ceremony and Israeli delegation

For the opening ceremony, Abu Maraheel was chosen to be the first flag bearer for Palestine at the Olympic Games. He stated that his main purpose in the Games was "to remind the world that Palestine exists."[36] and that he was "holding in one hand a Palestinian flag and in the other hand an olive branch." The Palestinian delegation wore slacks and checkered sports jackets during the ceremony.[37]

Relationships between the OCI and POC were fairly amicable during the Games, with respective committee presidents Ephraim Zinger and Muammar Bississo meeting during the opening ceremonies. The OCI officially rebuked Israeli governmental opposition to the POC competing under the name "Palestine",[35] and Zinger extended an invitation for the Palestinian delegation to visit the OCI headquarters. Abu Maraheel and Salama shook hands, traded pins, and posed for photos with members of the Israeli delegation during the ceremony.[32] Athletes from both delegations later discussed how to use the event as leverage for further peace in the region. They also shared food and training advice.[38]

Both Palestinian athletes went to the Games wearing sneakers and expressed hopes for a donation of track shoes.[33] Abu Maraheel was described by the Daily Press as unlikely to medal at the Games due to his personal best of around 30:00 for the 10,000 meters, almost three minutes behind the contemporary Olympic and world record. He reaffirmed that he was not seeking a gold medal, and that he was running for "peace, and only peace".[39][40] Acknowledging the long history of conflict between Israel and Palestine, he stated to Sports Illustrated that greater connections between them "will be built through sports."[33]

Athletics

An overview shot of Centennial Olympic Stadium in Atlanta, showing various flags
Centennial Olympic Stadium in Atlanta, the site of the 1996 Olympic athletics events

The athletics events were held at the Centennial Olympic Stadium.[41] Abu Maraheel competed in the men's 10,000 metres on 26 July, where he ran in the first preliminary heat. He placed 21st out of the 22 people that had started the round, and finished with a time of 34:40.50. Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia eventually won the gold medal on 29 July with an Olympic record of 27:07.34.[42]

Salama was stated to be entered in the men's 5000 metres.[b] Prior to the race set to be held on 31 July,[34] he had an open wound on his left toe and wore sandals to an interview with The Atlanta Journal to minimize the pain. During the interview, Abu Maraheel stated that Salama would race "even if it was amputated".[43][32] In the official report of the Summer Games, Salama's name was not recorded, even as a non-starter.[44]

Key
  • Note–Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only
Athletics summary[42]
Athlete Event Heat Final
Result Rank Result Rank
Majed Abu Maraheel Men's 10,000 metres 34:40.50 21 Did not advance

Legacy

After the Games, Abu Maraheel competed at the 1997 Turin Marathon and moved to Germany the following year to study at Leipzig University. He participated in competitions while he was in Germany though later retired from competition upon graduating.[45] After his retirement, he coached the Palestinian national athletics team, including future Olympian Nader al-Masri, at the 1999 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Belfast.[46]

As of 11 August 2024, Palestine has competed in every edition of the Summer Olympics since. They have never won an Olympic medal, with their best result coming from judoka Maher Abu Rmeileh placing 16th in the men's 73 kg division at the 2012 Summer Olympics.[9]

Notes

  1. Olympedia states that the committee was established in 1976[9] while the Palestine Chronicle states 1974.[21]
  2. Attributed to The Jackson Sun[43] and The Oregonian.[34]

References

Citations

  1. "Zionists Get Text of Britain's Pledge". The New York Times. 14 November 1917. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. "Italy Bows to Wilson". Los Angeles Times. 26 April 1920. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Palestine and Syrian Mandates Both Confirmed in Principle". The Guardian. 24 July 1922. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. Adwan, Bar-On & Naveh 2012, p. 26–68.
  5. Khalidi & Raab 2017, p. 1404.
  6. Khalidi & Raab 2017, p. 1405.
  7. Khalidi & Raab 2017, p. 1408.
  8. Mallon & Heijmans 2011, p. 291.
  9. "Palestine Overview". Olympedia. Archived from the original on 22 January 2026.
  10. Galily & Ben-Porat 2009, p. 26.
  11. Khalidi & Raab 2017, p. 1405–1406.
  12. Khalidi & Raab 2017, p. 1409.
  13. Khalidi & Raab 2017, p. 1409–1410.
  14. Khalidi & Raab 2017, p. 1410.
  15. Niumata, Foster (2 August 2020). "Austerity Games of 1948 revive Olympic spirit after WWII". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 12 August 2024.
  16. Mallon & Heijmans 2011, p. 177.
  17. Warf & Charles 2020, p. 384.
  18. "Hapoel and Maccabi Organisations Agree". The Sydney Jewish News. Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 2 November 1951. p. 8 – via Trove.
  19. "Israel Overview". Olympedia. Archived from the original on 26 February 2026.
  20. Miller, Judith (4 April 1996). "For Palestinian Runner, Carrying Flag Is Glory Enough". New York Times. Archived from the original on 4 April 1996.
  21. Khalidi, Issam (1 June 2020). "Palestine and Olympics: A Creation of a Collective National Consciousness". Palestine Chronicle. Archived from the original on 30 December 2025.
  22. Khalidi & Raab 2017, p. 1411.
  23. Khalidi & Raab 2017, p. 1411–1412.
  24. "Palestine in Olympics?". Daily Breeze. United Press International. 3 October 1979. p. 82 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. Klose, Kevin (21 July 1980). "Arafat's Olympic Tour Evokes Memory of Munich". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 28 August 2017.
  26. Khalidi & Raab 2017, p. 1412.
  27. Harvey, Randy (30 September 1986). "Israel Denounces Admission of PLO to Asian Olympic Panel". Archived from the original on 26 February 2026.
  28. "OCA - Palestine". Olympic Council of Asia. Archived from the original on 12 February 2026.
  29. "1996 Summer Olympics Overview". Olympedia. Archived from the original on 3 March 2026.
  30. "Al Batal Al Arabi(N°:42)" (PDF) (in Arabic). Arab Athletics Federation. p. 38. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  31. "Participation Is Palestinian's Prize". Chicago Tribune. 25 July 1996. Archived from the original on 14 May 2024.
  32. Sherman, Mark (27 July 1996). "Major Strides". The Atlanta Journal. p. 277 – via Newspapers.com.
  33. "A Different Dream". Sports Illustrated. 26 July 1996.
  34. Duin, Steve (27 July 1996). "Palestine's last-place finish is a first step". The Oregonian. p. 32 – via Newspapers.com.
  35. Sherman, Mark; Holmes, Charles W. (16 July 1996). "IOC scolds Israel for playing politics in 11th-hour 'Palestine' flap". The Atlanta Journal. p. 136 – via Newspapers.com.
  36. "Police Impersonator Attended Ceremonies". The Spokesman-Review. 23 July 1996. Archived from the original on 5 January 2024.
  37. Lipper, Bob (19 July 1996). "Palestine welcomed into family of man". Richmond Times-Dispatch. p. 37 – via Newspapers.com.
  38. Kurlyo, Elizabeth (27 July 1996). "Peace on the Playing Field". The Atlanta Journal. p. 36 – via Newspapers.com.
  39. "Olympic Athletes Want to Put Their Pasts Behind Them". The Des Moines Register. 19 July 1996. p. 27 – via Newspapers.com.
  40. "Dream Team III Lineup Finalized - Officially". Daily Press. 14 April 1996. pp. C5. Retrieved 17 June 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  41. "Stop 3 | Centennial Olympic Stadium". Atlanta History Center. Archived from the original on 9 March 2026.
  42. "10,000 metres, Men". Olympedia. Archived from the original on 6 September 2025.
  43. Lopresti, Mike (25 July 1996). "Rebirth of a nation". The Jackson Sun. Gannett. p. 21.
  44. The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games 1997, p. 78.
  45. "Majed Abu Maraheel Biographical Information". Olympedia. Archived from the original on 2 July 2025.
  46. Al-Masri 2015, p. 287.

Bibliography