Muslim women demonstrate against the French proposal to bar Muslim women from wearing headscarves in state schools on January 17, 2004 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
Welcome to the Paris Olympic Games 2024 where wearing a headscarf will see you banned, but committing a genocide in which more than 12 000 children are killed, will not.
When one thinks of France, we think of the three words, liberty, equality and fraternity. Written into the Constitution in 1958, it first appeared during the French Revolution. It is a part of French heritage.
Perhaps it is time for a new word to be added to this, bigotry. The host nation for the 2024 Olympics has banned athletes from wearing the hijab or any other religious symbol. Banning the hijab is not something new for France. In 2004, it outlawed headscarves being worn by schoolgirls.
Considering the country has the biggest Muslim population in Europe, one would think the French would be a little less Islamophobic.
Sprinter Sounkamba Sylla had to cover her hair with a cap before she was allowed to join the Olympics’ opening ceremony.
The headscarf ban has seen many human rights groups call for its reversal, because it is discriminatory and against women’s rights.
Rights group Amnesty International called the ban discriminatory in a report released recently.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) in its charter says: “The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Olympic Charter shall be secured without discrimination of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.”
Have the French not moved past telling women what they can and cannot wear? Apparently not — if you are Muslim. It reeks of bigotry and discrimination.
An open letter written earlier this year by a number of athletes called for the ban to be lifted but to no avail. Women are still forced to choose between their faith and the sport they love.
It’s difficult to keep sport and politics separate, something which the IOC seems determined to do. The rules ban competitors from making statements that might be “political, religious or racial”. Israel has 88 participants competing in the Games and Palestine has eight.
Palestine’s Olympic Committee has claimed that about 400 athletes have been killed since 7 October 2023 and most of its sporting infrastructure has been destroyed. Given that the International Court of Justice has found that Israel’s legislation and actions violate the international prohibition on racial segregation and apartheid, why are the Israeli team allowed to participate when Russia and Belarus are banned because of its war in Ukraine?
But athletes from each region applied to the IOC under the Individual Neutral Atheletes delegation to compete in the event. Some were granted permission to compete but will do so as neutrals and not affiliated to their home countries.
Messaoud Redouane Dris is an Algerian judoka who missed a weigh-in ahead of facing an Israeli opponent. It’s rare that judokas at this level will have issues with weight so one could draw the conclusion that this was linked to his opponent. If it is the case, which many suspect, it will be two Olympic events in a row where an Algerian withdrew when faced with an Israeli competitor.
Let’s not forget Algerian judoka Fethi Nourine, who at the Tokyo Olympics withdrew ahead of having to go up against an Israeli opponent. He received a 10-year suspension from the International Judo Federation.
Palestinian swimmer Yazan Al Bawwab didn’t set the world alight in his part in competing in the swimming even, yet, he used the platform to speak about the atrocities people face in Gaza.
Speaking to Middle East Eye he said: “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.”
Al Bawwab also wore the Palestinian flag on his chest during his race at the Olympics on Sunday. In contrast Israel’s flag bearer, Peter Paltchik, is known to have signed bombs targeting civilians in Gaza.
In a social media post, he said: “From me to you with pleasure,” referring to bombs used by Israel.
Safe to say the IOC will find it impossible not to mix sport and politics.
Finally the homeless, many of whom are migrants, were bussed away to Paris’s outskirts ahead of the ceremony. For a modern society that prides itself for its freedom, equality and fraternity, banning the hijab and its treatment of migrants is shameful.