Paris Olympics 2024: Joyous reception for Palestinian athletes at airport; Watch

Palestinian athletes and members of the delegation welcomed at Paris airport (Pic: @PalAcievements/X)

Palestinian athletes were welcomed with enthusiastic cheers and presented with tokens of food and roses upon their arrival in Paris on Thursday.

The Paris Olympics 2024 contingent arrived prepared to showcase their skills on an international platform, representing not only war-ravaged Gaza but also the broader Palestinian territories. As they walked through a sea of Palestinian flags at the main Paris airport, they said they hoped their presence would serve as a symbol amid the Israel-Hamas war that has claimed more than 39,000 Palestinian lives.

Athletes, French supporters and politicians in the crowd urged the European nation to recognize a Palestinian state, while others expressed outrage at Israel's presence at the Games after U.N.-backed human rights experts said Israeli authorities were responsible for 'war crimes and crimes against humanity'.

The same report said Palestinian militants committed war crimes during the first months of the war in Gaza, which began after Hamas launched deadly attacks on Israel on Oct. 7. Israel has rejected the allegations from the independent experts.

"France doesn't recognize Palestine as a country, so I am here to raise the flag," said Yazan Al-Bawwab, a 24-year-old Palestinian swimmer born in Saudi Arabia. "We're not treated like human beings, so when we come play sports, people realize we are equal to them."

"We're 50 million people without a country," he added.

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Al-Bawwab, one of eight athletes on the Paris Olympics 2024 Palestinian team, signed autographs for supporters and plucked dates from a plate offered by a child in the crowd.

The chants of 'free Palestine' echoing through the Paris Charles de Gaulle airport show how conflict and the political tension are rippling through the Olympic Games. The world is coming together in Paris at a moment of global political upheaval, multiple wars, historic migration and a deepening climate crisis, all issues that have risen to the forefront of conversation in the Olympics.

Palestinian ambassador to France Hala Abou called for France to formally recognize a Palestinian state and for a boycott of the Israeli Olympic delegation. Abou has previously said she has lost 60 relatives in the war.

"It's welcome that comes as no surprise to the French people, who support justice, support the Palestinian people, support their inalienable right to self-determination," she said.

Among the large Palestinian diaspora worldwide, many of the athletes on the team were born or live elsewhere, yet they care deeply about the politics of their parents' and grandparents' homeland. Among them was Palestinian American swimmer Valerie Tarazi, who handed out traditional keffiyehs to supporters surrounding her Thursday.

"You can either crumble under pressure or use it as energy," she said. "I chose to use it as energy."

(With AP inputs)