The Olympics – what about our story?
The Olympics – what about our story?
This weekend will mark the start of thousands of athletes from around the world converging on Paris with their hopes and dreams. From the largest and more powerful teams sending athletes from every sport open to compete in, to the countries who may only have a handful of representatives in one discipline.
For almost all the athletes this event will be the culmination of years of perseverance and commitment. It will highlight personal sacrifice and stories of overcoming the greatest personal difficulties.
It is a period where the athletes can and must just concentrate on themselves, their ambitions and their dreams to be focused and allow themselves the best chance of success.
But for one small team only, in conjunction with self-motivating themselves and dealing with personal pressure they will also need to activate a personal force field to protect them emotionally and possibly physically from outside actions and noise.
You see, there will be no other team that will have an unprecedented physically security plan and directive that will dictate every move they make from the training in the athlete’s village, to the eating in the mess hall and to traveling to events, juts to keep them safe. This team is the Israeli Olympic team.
Besides the nerves and anxiety that every other participant will be going through and are able to manage with supportive team members, fans and uninterrupted training, the Israeli team will need to negotiate every physical move from accommodation to transport to just being at the venues. Their anxiety levels will be at another level just to keep them safe, all for just being Israeli.
But it doesn’t end there! Besides the physical threats that they will try to navigate, the risk of emotional damage will also be on high alert through witnessing or being targeted through violent and loud pro-Palestinian demonstration with the potential verbal abuse that is sure to be sprouted by teams or individuals in the village in passing.
No other country’s athletes will have to deal with this level of pressure. At a world event that is meant to unify the through sport there is a high probability that some political message will be instigated against Israel and the war in Gaza.
And if there is success for one of these Israeli athletes, there will be not personal story of courage and determination to accompany the winning narrative, as there will not be the opportunity to separate the good news story from the BDS / anti-Israel sentiment that will follow.
The Olympics is meant to highlight the best in us as individuals and supportive humans, to show what can be achieved with teamwork and commitment to a singular cause. Yet for Israel, this will continue to isolate them as a pariah state and just add to the false narrative already developing and spreading throughout the world.
When each country’s team walk through the arches into the main stadium, they will be greeted with a cheer of the Parisian crowd with a crescendo for the French team at the end. But for the Israeli team there will be apprehension and uncertainty as to the reception they may receive. As each team alphabetical snakes around the Olympic stadium, the Television and radio commentators will recount each team’s rich history and background in the Olympics, but what will they say about team Israel? Will they politicize their attendance or allow Israel to be associated and counted with the other 180 plus countries for simply being a valid, progressive, democratic and open society sending athletes to compete? No other team will have their historical narrative doubted, judged or negated.
Why is it that every other country of this planet regardless of their human rights status, level of corruption or political uncertainty is allowed to have a shared proud history and a bright hope and future, but Israel can’t? How can a global event that is meant to rise above hate, discrimination and vilification potentially end up becoming the platform for these instruments of pain and hurt?
Imagine telling the indigenous members of the Canadian, Australian or New Zealand based teams that their histories are made up. That their identity’s are stolen and everything they claim about culture and rights is a false and misleading narrative. No other country would or should accept that and I am certain other country’s indigenous and new immigrant populations would rise to defend them. But not for Israel!
I pray the Olympics is left to simply creating great sporting achievements and memories and that Israel, like all countries get the success they deserve on an even playing field. But my cynical side feels the next 2 weeks of competitions will highlight an unfair singling out of Israel according to standards that no other country is held to, all under the disguise of higher faster and stronger….