The board of the Faculty of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences of the Universitat de València has unanimously approved the exclusion of Israel from the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The faculty’s management believes that allowing the State of Israel to participate is a tacit acceptance of its crimes against humanity.
Full text of the approved manifesto:
‘In view of the genocide committed by the State of Israel against the Palestinian population in Gaza and the confirmation by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that the State of Israel will participate in the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Faculty of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences of the Universitat de València would like to express that:
Firstly, allowing Israel to participate in the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games is a tacit acceptance of the war crimes committed by this state against the Palestinian civilian population. The State of Israel will use this event to whitewash its international image while continuing to commit crimes against humanity, as it did with the Eurovision Song Contest. Excusing the IOC’s inaction on the grounds of political neutrality would be incompatible with the protection of human rights in Gaza and contrary to Olympic principles.
Secondly, according to Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, the State of Israel is practising apartheid against the Palestinian population. The United Nations International Convention against Apartheid in Sports of 1985 establishes the commitment to implement policies aimed at abolishing sport contacts with apartheid countries. In this regard, the IOC set a historical precedent with South Africa, which was excluded from the 1964 Tokyo Games because of its apartheid policies and was formally expelled from the IOC between 1970 and 1992, during the apartheid era.
Thirdly, the IOC has banned Russian and Belarusian participation in the Paris Olympics and Paralympics as a consequence of the Ukraine invasion and the violations against human rights by the Russian army. Athletes from both countries will be allowed to participate under a neutral flag, as long as they do not show support the war in Ukraine. The decision not to apply the same measures to Israel would be arbitrary and contradictory.
For these reasons, in a context in which Spanish universities are mobilising to stop the genocide and to oppose to the normalisation of diplomatic and commercial relations with the State of Israel, we demand the following:
– that the Spanish Olympic Committee supports this manifesto and expresses its disagreement with the IOC decision to allow Israeli participation in the Paris Olympics and Paralympics,
– that the IOC does not allow the participation of the Israeli team in the Paris Olympics and Paralympics until the offensive against Gaza and the apartheid cease, and
– that the IOC will only allow Israeli athletes to take part if they do not support the attacks on Palestine, and that they will take part without the Israeli flag or anthem.’