Palestine Olympic Committee

Palestine Olympic Committee

Palestine Olympic Committee logo

Palestine Olympic Committee logo
Country/Region  Palestine
Code PLE
Continental
Association		 OCA
Palestine at the Olympic Games

Flag of Palestine
IOC code  PLE
NOC Palestine Olympic Committee
Websitewww.poc.ps (Arabic)
Olympic history
Summer Games

The Palestine Olympic Committee is the National Olympic Committee of Palestine. Palestine has been recognized as a member of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) since 1986, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) since 1995.[1][2]

History

According to Nahil Mabrouk, president of the Palestinian Track and Field Federation, the Palestine Olympic Committee was first founded in 1931, and remained an Olympic member until the 1967 war when the West Bank and Gaza Strip were occupied by Israel.[3]

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. Yasser Arafat, the leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization, was also the head of the Palestine Olympic Committee in these early days.[1]

Palestine was first represented at the International Olympic Games at the 1996 Summer Olympics.[4]

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 an explosion in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon on March 24, 2009.[5]

Jibril Rajoub served as president of the Palestine Olympic Committee and as president of the Palestine Football Association before being elected to the Fatah 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.[6] In a letter to the IOC on July 27, 2012, Rajoub praised their decision to not honor the 11 murdered Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Games.[7]

Samar Araj Mousa is a member of the Palestine Olympic Committee 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.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Randy Harvey (September 30, 1986). "Israel Denounces Admission of PLO to Asian Olympic Panel". Los Angeles Times.
  2. ↑ "Palestine Olympic Committee". www.olympic.org: Official Website of the Olympic Movement. Retrieved 2009-07-28.
  3. ↑ JUDITH MILLER (April 4, 1996). "Olympic Profile: Atlanta 1996; For Palestinian Runner, Carrying Flag Is Glory Enough". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-11-09.
  4. ↑ "Athlete who carries Palestinians' first Olympic hopes to Atlanta". The Independent. Jauly 11, 1996. Retrieved 2009-11-09. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ↑ Talal Fahad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah (March 24, 2009). "West Asian Games Federation". West Asian Games Federation. Retrieved 2009-11-09.
  6. ↑ "Olympic Newsdesk: Schiller Comments on Failed Baseball Bid; Badminton Worlds End Uneventfully: Briefs". Around the Rings. August 17, 2009.
  7. ↑ Shaked, Roni. "Palestinian Welcome IOC's Rejection of Moment of Silence".
  8. ↑ Samar Araj Mousa (March 3, 2009). "The First Palestinian Women's Soccer Team". Women Talk Sports. Retrieved 2009-11-09.