Palestinian swimmer Yazan Al Bawwab (X)
The 24-year-old pointed to a Palestinian flag on his chest as he explained what it meant to represent a homeland not just lacking a pool but struggling for basics like food and water.
Palestinian swimmer Yazan Al Bawwab’s sole Olympic race lasted less than a minute but just being in the water was a statement in itself.
Al Bawwab, an aerospace engineer born in Saudi Arabia, educated in Canada and Britain, lives in Dubai where he runs a furniture business and also half-Italian.
The 24-year-old pointed to a Palestinian flag on his chest as he explained what it meant to represent a homeland not just lacking a pool but struggling for basics like food and water.
“France does not recognise Palestine. Yet here I am with a flag on my chest,” he said after finishing third in a 100 metres backstroke heat that proved to be his first and last swim of the Paris Games.
“I’m very, very happy … to raise my flag, to have time just for Palestine, a lane just for Palestine. I think this is my message of peace.
“We’re trying to get the world to know that we’re human beings. I can play sports like everybody else,” he told reporters.
France said in May that conditions were not right to officially recognise a Palestinian state and any decision must be more than symbolic or political posturing.
More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive in Gaza, say local health authorities.
Israel launched its military action in response to a Hamas-led attack in southern Israel in October. About 1,200 people were killed and 250 were taken hostage in the Oct. 7 attack, according to Israeli tallies.
The only Israeli swimmer in the 100 backstroke was in a later heat to Al Bawwab and their paths did not cross.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – Reuters)
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