"The goal of Olympism," proclaims the Olympic Charter, "is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of humankind, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity."
Well, that's one approach. Jibril Rajoub takes a somewhat different view.
Rajoub, a longtime senior official of Fatah, the militant Palestinian faction founded by Yasser Arafat, harshly condemns efforts to promote good will through athletics, at least when the athletes include Israelis. "Any activity of normalization in sports with the Zionist enemy," he declares, "is a crime against humanity."
When the Peres Center for Peace hosted a soccer match between Palestinian and Israeli kids in 2014, the children enjoyed themselves immensely — "I love it when we play together like this," 11-year-old Qusay, a Palestinian boy, told an AFP reporter. But Rajoub was furious. It was "a disgrace to use sports for this purpose," he thundered, and issued a "demand that all individuals and institutions distance themselves from such activities." He was equally implacable when the president of the Barcelona Football Club, during a good-will tour of Israel and the Palestinian Authority, proposed a match between the renowned Spanish team and a squad of Israeli and Palestinian players.
"Impossible, impossible!" exclaimed Rajoub in a Palestinian TV interview. "Impossible that there be any sport-related contact with the Israeli side, in any situation."
Rajoub consistently exploits his position within the Olympic movement to glorify violence and to prevent attempts to connect Israelis and Palestinians through sports.
Rajoub's unsleeping hostility toward Israel comes as no surprise — the man is a notorious PLO chieftain with a long record of extolling terror. Alas, he is also the chairman of the Palestine Olympic Committee. And he has consistently exploited his position within the Olympic movement to glorify violence and to prevent attempts to connect Israelis and Palestinians through sports.
Such behavior isn't only hateful and immoral. It's also an egregious violation of International Olympic Committee rules.
The IOC's detailed Code of Ethics requires Olympic personnel to respect at all times the movement's principle of "universality and political neutrality" and to affirm "the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity, and fair play." Rajoub brazenly flouts those requirements, invoking his status as chairman of a national Olympic committee as he debases Olympic ideals.
In a new report, Palestinian Media Watch, a private media watchdog, has documented multiple examples of Rajoub's praise for terrorism and incitement to murder. The report shows that Rajoub has not simply glorified Palestinian "martyrs" (suicide bombers or gunmen killed during attacks on Israelis), but has done so explicitly in his capacity as an Olympic official.

In November 2015, for example, Rajoub named a table-tennis tournament in honor of Muhannad Halabi, who had murdered two civilians and wounded two others in a stabbing attack in Jerusalem a month earlier. A poster advertising the tournament featured two images of Halabi; in large lettering it trumpeted the "patronage of the leader Jibril Rajoub, head of the Palestine Olympic Committee."
In its 24-page dossier, the watchdog group compiles numerous such cases of Rajoub honoring terrorists, with official Palestinian media identifying him again and again as the chairman of the Palestine Olympic Committee. Especially appalling was his attendance at a boxing match named in honor of Ali Hassan Salameh, one of the masterminds of Black September, the Fatah terror subgroup that slaughtered 11 Israeli athletes during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.
Like most ideals, the Olympic mission — the promotion of peace and dignity through sport — is an aspiration not yet achieved. The Olympic Games do not resolve international conflicts. The Olympic charter hasn't deterred tyrants from abusing human rights. Nothing the International Olympic Committee does or doesn't do will establish peace in the Middle East.
But Palestinian athletes deserve a better leader than Rajoub, a man so toxic with hatred that he applauds terror attacks and denounces games that bring Arab and Jewish kids together. At the opening ceremonies in Rio de Janeiro this week, the Olympic Hymn will be sung:
Let all the flags of every land
In brotherhood unfold.
Maybe the IOC cannot produce universal brotherhood. But can't it at least insist on a decent chairman for the Palestine Olympic Committee?
This article originally appeared in The Boston Globe.
(7) Tuala Tommy Stancil, November 22, 2017 1:10 AM
The I.O.C.should remove this kind of people from the committee its unacceptable in its charters.
(6) Michael, August 9, 2016 4:58 AM
End the Olympic Games
Athletes should not compete under the flag of their nations. They should just compete against each other as individuals. In the meantime ban "Palestine" from competing. Tell then they can compete when they recognize Israel's right to exist and forswear violence and hatred towards the Jewish state.
(5) Aviel, August 8, 2016 11:02 AM
it's an expected part of Palestinian identity project
The heart of Palestinian identity is that the Jewish State is temporary and illegal.It's no surprise that a platform such as the Olympics would also be used to try and gain support for this narrative. Will the world listen? How will Jews respond?
(4) Isahiah62, August 7, 2016 9:32 PM
PA is not a country
I thought only COUNTRIES could send competitors to the Olympics- PA is not a country.
(3) Anonymous, August 7, 2016 5:05 PM
IOC rotting from the head down
There should be no surprise at all that an organization as corrupt as the International Olympic Committee turns a blind eye to the likes of Jibril Rajoub. While IOC may not be permeated by hatred of Jews and of Israel, it is a perfect match for the Palestinian Authority in terms of integrity. How can an organization that consistently ignores rampant, government-run doping of athletes and is up to its eyeballs in multiple payoff and kickback investigations exercise any moral authority in any other context?
(2) LeeZee, August 7, 2016 4:32 PM
Bar "Official Palestinian Olympian Team" from Games
Individual Palestinians should be able to participate if they wish. Palestine was a Protectorate, not a Country, and has no official standing. Next time, Rajoub might want to send a team from ISIS, D'aesh, etc. Tunnel Digging might become an Olympic sport.
manifesto2000, August 8, 2016 7:47 AM
Good point LeeZee
Countries like Canada ought to be showing some reality testing from our Olympic officials - it should become beyond negotiation that anyone who attempts to incite rejection of Israel within Palestinian territory should be removed. There should be no willingness to tolerate the attitude of Rajoub in any international organization.
(1) Steve, August 7, 2016 1:34 PM
The IOC must address this.
People can help by complaining to the IOC. They need to respond to this guy in some way and make the response public via international media.