Popular
The Palestine Olympic Committee (POC) has spoken of its ambition to make a “footprint” on international sport but stresses that it faces “obstacles” over the freedom of movement.
Nader Jayousi, technical director at the POC, outlined the challenges facing his country when speaking at the seventh edition of the International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport (MINEPS VII) here.
Palestine remains locked in a long-running conflict with Israel with tensions between the two countries continuing to mount.
Restrictions on movement remains a key issue for Palestinians with Gaza and the West Bank separated from each other by Israeli territory.
The West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has been under Israeli military occupation since the Middle East war in 1967 but the State of Palestine claims it as its sovereign territory.
Israel issued new guidelines last October to tighten restrictions on the movement of Palestinians that live within the West Bank and travel between it and the Gaza Strip – measures which have been criticised by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
It is argued by Israel that the restrictions are necessary to protect itself from Palestinian violence.
When addressing delegates at MINEPS VII, Jayousi claims that the restraints on travel obstruct the development of sport in Palestine.
“We are confident that Palestine will have its own footprint in the international sports scene when it comes to achievements and medals,” said Jayousi.
“Do we have obstacles?
“Yes, we do.
“A lot.
“Our athletes and National Federations suffer on restrictions on movements.
“Our athletes from the Gaza Strip are not allowed and permitted to meet with their fellow athletes in the West Bank which puts a lot of limits on our potential to develop our athletic performance to our athletes.
“Palestine, such as other countries, are opening its doors to international competition.
“We are usually clashed with impossibility to get permits to our guests, especially to our Arab brothers to enter Palestine and practice the right of competing in our international competition.”
Jayousi said that Israeli forces broke in the headquarters of the POC and the Palestinian Football Association in recent years.
In March this year, Palestine’s Faisal Al Husseini International Stadium was hit by an unprovoked tear-gas attack, leaving players and fans struggling to breathe.
“Alongside all of this, we can’t forget to remember our 170 killed athletes in the last 40 years, the last one was killed five days ago,” added Jayousi.
“In spite of all of that, Palestinians are full of hope to be able to practice sports freely just like any other nations in the world.
“We believe that we will be able to do so but until then we will keep working hard towards that with no excuse.”
Palestine has been a member of the International Olympic Committee since 1995 and made its Olympic debut at Atlanta 1996.
Since then, Palestine sent athletes to next six Summer Olympics but has yet to register a single medal.
Support insidethegames.biz for as little as £10
For nearly 15 years now, insidethegames.biz has been at the forefront of reporting fearlessly on what happens in the Olympic Movement. As the first website not to be placed behind a paywall, we have made news about the International Olympic Committee, the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Commonwealth Games and other major events more accessible than ever to everybody.
insidethegames.biz has established a global reputation for the excellence of its reporting and breadth of its coverage. For many of our readers from more than 200 countries and territories around the world the website is a vital part of their daily lives. The ping of our free daily email alert, sent every morning at 6.30am UK time 365 days a year, landing in their inbox, is as a familiar part of their day as their first cup of coffee.
Even during the worst times of the COVID-19 pandemic, insidethegames.biz maintained its high standard of reporting on all the news from around the globe on a daily basis. We were the first publication in the world to signal the threat that the Olympic Movement faced from the coronavirus and have provided unparalleled coverage of the pandemic since.
As the world begins to emerge from the COVID crisis, insidethegames.biz would like to invite you to help us on our journey by funding our independent journalism. Your vital support would mean we can continue to report so comprehensively on the Olympic Movement and the events that shape it. It would mean we can keep our website open for everyone. Last year, nearly 25 million people read insidethegames.biz, making us by far the biggest source of independent news on what is happening in world sport.
Every contribution, however big or small, will help maintain and improve our worldwide coverage in the year ahead. Our small and dedicated team were extremely busy last year covering the re-arranged Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, an unprecedented logistical challenge that stretched our tight resources to the limit.
The remainder of 2022 is not going to be any less busy, or less challenging. We had the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing, where we sent a team of four reporters, and coming up are the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the Summer World University and Asian Games in China, the World Games in Alabama and multiple World Championships. Plus, of course, there is the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Unlike many others, insidethegames.biz is available for everyone to read, regardless of what they can afford to pay. We do this because we believe that sport belongs to everybody, and everybody should be able to read information regardless of their financial situation. While others try to benefit financially from information, we are committed to sharing it with as many people as possible. The greater the number of people that can keep up to date with global events, and understand their impact, the more sport will be forced to be transparent.
Support insidethegames.biz for as little as £10 – it only takes a minute. If you can, please consider supporting us with a regular amount each month. Thank you.
Read more
Contribute
Geoff Berkeley is the chief senior reporter at insidethegames.biz. After joining Midlands-based newspaper publisher Bullivant Media in 2011, Geoff rose through the ranks to become editor of the Malvern Observer and sports editor of several other weekly titles. He then went on to be appointed as the Worcester Warriors correspondent for the Worcester News where he was nominated for Sports Journalist of the Year at the Midlands Media Awards in 2016 and 2017. He also had a spell at Sportsbeat in 2020.
Tschofenig wins individual and mixed team ski jumping gold at European Games
When British skaters Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean won the Olympic gold medal in ice dance at Sarajevo 1984 with 12 perfect 6.0s from every judge, for their interpretation of Maurice Ravel’s Boléro, an important member of their team was singer-actor Michael Crawford. Crawford, who had played Frank Spencer in British sitcom Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em and the title role in the musical The Phantom of the Opera, had become a mentor to the pair in 1981 and went on to help them create their Olympic routine. Crawford said he “taught them how to act”. He was present with their trainer Betty Callaway at the ringside at Sarajevo as they created one of the most iconic moments in Olympic history.
Chief Executive – HKSIL – Hong Kong, Hong Kong
The Hong Kong Sports Institute Limited (“HKSIL”) is the Government’s delivery agent to provide the high-performance training system for eligible sports. The HKSI’s mission is to provide an environment in which sports talent can be identified, nurtured and developed to pursue excellence in the international sporting arena benchmarked at Major Games results. We are now inviting suitable candidates for the following vacancy.
More jobs
Living in peaceful conditions is a significant element of the European Games in Poland, that has taken in almost three million refugees since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February last year. Mike Rowbottom captures the mood as EOC President Spyros Capralos claims athletes have the chance “to experience something really special that goes beyond sport”.
Read more
Big Read Archive
Do you support the creation of World Boxing?
You have viewed over 50 articles in the last 12 months.
Support insidethegames.biz for as little as £10
For nearly 15 years now, insidethegames.biz has been at the forefront of reporting fearlessly on what happens in the Olympic Movement. As the first website not to be placed behind a paywall, we have made news about the International Olympic Committee, the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Commonwealth Games and other major events more accessible than ever to everybody.
insidethegames.biz has established a global reputation for the excellence of its reporting and breadth of its coverage. For many of our readers from more than 200 countries and territories around the world the website is a vital part of their daily lives. The ping of our free daily email alert, sent every morning at 6.30am UK time 365 days a year, landing in their inbox, is as a familiar part of their day as their first cup of coffee.
Even during the worst times of the COVID-19 pandemic, insidethegames.biz maintained its high standard of reporting on all the news from around the globe on a daily basis. We were the first publication in the world to signal the threat that the Olympic Movement faced from the coronavirus and have provided unparalleled coverage of the pandemic since.
As the world begins to emerge from the COVID crisis, insidethegames.biz would like to invite you to help us on our journey by funding our independent journalism. Your vital support would mean we can continue to report so comprehensively on the Olympic Movement and the events that shape it. It would mean we can keep our website open for everyone. Last year, nearly 25 million people read insidethegames.biz, making us by far the biggest source of independent news on what is happening in world sport.
Every contribution, however big or small, will help maintain and improve our worldwide coverage in the year ahead. Our small and dedicated team were extremely busy last year covering the re-arranged Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, an unprecedented logistical challenge that stretched our tight resources to the limit.
The remainder of 2022 is not going to be any less busy, or less challenging. We had the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing, where we sent a team of four reporters, and coming up are the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the Summer World University and Asian Games in China, the World Games in Alabama and multiple World Championships. Plus, of course, there is the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Unlike many others, insidethegames.biz is available for everyone to read, regardless of what they can afford to pay. We do this because we believe that sport belongs to everybody, and everybody should be able to read information regardless of their financial situation. While others try to benefit financially from information, we are committed to sharing it with as many people as possible. The greater the number of people that can keep up to date with global events, and understand their impact, the more sport will be forced to be transparent.
Support insidethegames.biz for as little as £10 – it only takes a minute. If you can, please consider supporting us with a regular amount each month. Thank you.
Read more 