Palestine Olympic Committee
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The Palestine Olympic Committee ( ar, اللجنة الأولمبية الفلسطينية) is the
National Olympic Committee A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games ...
of the
State of Palestine Palestine ( ar, فلسطين, Filasṭīn), Legal status of the State of Palestine, officially the State of Palestine ( ar, دولة فلسطين, Dawlat Filasṭīn, label=none), is a state (polity), state located in Western Asia. Officiall ...
. The State of Palestine has been recognized as a member of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) since 1986, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) since 1995.


History

In 1933 the Palestine National Olympic Committee was officially formed, and was recognized by the International Olympic Committee in May 1934, despite never competing. Although this committee represented Jews, Christians and Muslims living in Mandatory Palestine, its rules stated that they "represent dthe Jewish National Home." According to Nabil Mabrouk, president of the Palestinian Track and Field Federation, the Palestine Olympic Committee was first founded in 1969. The Palestine Olympic Committee was accepted into the Olympic Council of Asia as a provisional member in 1986. The decision was protested by Israel, who was refused membership to the same committee in 1982. The decision allowed for the Palestine Olympic Committee to participate in the
Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...
. Yasser Arafat, the leader of the
Palestine Liberation Organization The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ar, منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية, ') is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist political and militant organization founded in 1964 with the initial purpose of establ ...
, was also the head of the Palestine Olympic Committee in these early days. The Palestinian Authority was first represented at the International Olympic Games at the
1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
, by a runner who finished last in his 10,000 meter heat. Akram Zaher, the manager of international relations for the Palestine Olympic Committee, also served as a board member and the Environment & Sports Committee chairman of the West Asian Games Federation. He was killed in a bomb explosion in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon on March 24, 2009. Samar Araj Mousa is a member of the Palestine Olympic Committeem and also serves as the Athletics Director at Bethlehem University, the manager of the Palestinian Women's National Soccer Team, and the general secretary of the Palestinian Tennis Association.
Jibril Rajoub Jibril Mahmoud Muhammad Rajoub ( ar, جبريل رجوب, born 14 May 1953), also known by his kunya Abu Rami, is a Palestinian political leader, legislator, and former militant. He leads the Palestinian Football Association and the Palestine Ol ...
served as president, and now serves as chairman, of the Palestine Olympic Committee. He also served as president of the
Palestine Football Association The Palestinian Football Association ( ar, الاتحاد الفلسطيني لكرة القدم) is the governing body for football in Palestine, and for the men's Palestine national football team and the Palestine women's national football ...
before being elected to the
Fatah Fatah ( ar, فتح '), formerly the Palestinian National Liberation Movement, is a Palestinian nationalist social democratic political party and the largest faction of the confederated multi-party Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and ...
Central Committee in August 2009. Rajoub had also served as a security official under Yasser Arafat, and spent time in Israeli prison for attacking Israeli military vehicles. In a letter to the IOC on July 27, 2012, Rajoub praised their decision to not honor the 11 murdered Israeli athletes in the Munich massacre at the 1972 Olympic Games. In November 2015, Rajoub named a table tennis tournament in honor of Muhannad Halabi, who had stabbed and killed two Israeli civilians in Jerusalem a month prior. A poster advertising the tournament featured two images of Halabi; in large letters a poster for the tournament showed to photos of Halabi, and stated: "patronage of the leader Jibril Rajoub, head of the Palestine Olympic Committee." He also attended a boxing match named in honor of Ali Hassan Salameh, a planner of
Black September Black September ( ar, أيلول الأسود; ''Aylūl Al-Aswad''), also known as the Jordanian Civil War, was a conflict fought in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan between the Jordanian Armed Forces (JAF), under the leadership of King Hussein ...
, which killed 11 Israeli Olympians during the
1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...
in Munich. In September 2018, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) banned Jibril for 12 months and fined him 20,000 Swiss francs ($20,600) for inciting hatred and violence. In July 2019, his appeal on the ban was dismissed by the International Court of Arbitration for Sport.


See also

*
Palestine at the Olympics State of Palestine, Palestine is represented on the International Olympic Committee by the Palestine Olympic Committee, which has sent teams to compete at each Summer Olympics since 1996 under the List of IOC country codes, IOC country code PLE. Pa ...
* Palestinian Paralympic Committee


References


External links


Official website
{{Sports governing bodies in the Palestinian territories National Olympic Committees Palestine at the Olympics 1931 establishments in Mandatory Palestine Oly Sports organizations established in 1931