Palestine first competed at the Summer Olympics in 1996. [1] The Palestinian National Authority 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 IOC country code PLE. [2] Palestine has been recognized as a member of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) since 1986, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) since 1995. [3] [4] The Palestinian Olympic committee did not work with the Israeli Olympic committee to train for the 2012 Olympic games, [5] and participation in the 2013 Mediterranean Games. [6]
Association football has been described as the national sport of Palestine, [7] and it is also the most popular. [8] There is a West Bank Premier League, and Gaza Strip League. The Palestine national football team played Afghanistan in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. They visited Australia for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. Some girls' schools have incorporated football into their curricula. [9] Prior to the creation of Israel, dozens of Palestinian sport clubs were active, however the 1948 war brought most of these to a closure. [10]
The Beit Jala Lions is a West Bank Rugby Union team.
Ramallah hosts some of the best gyms in Palestine. [11] The separation wall and numerous checkpoints has caused difficulty in movement for Palestinian athletes, however Palestinian athletes were still able to reach East Jerusalem sport centers as of 2009. [12]
The Turmus Aya Equestrian Club, established in 2007, is a riding club dedicated to the mission of providing affordable access to horses for Palestinians. Ashraf Rabi, the founder, maintains that "this is part of the development of Palestine. Horses are a big part of our Arab culture and we must embrace it." [13]
The Arab Palestine Sports Federation was established in 1931 and re-established in 1944. The first wave of the federation was from 1931 to 1937, then again from 1944 to 1948. There were many different clubs and gyms from all over Palestine that were considered to be a part of the Federation. The main games that the Arab Palestine Sports Federation supported were football and weightlifting. [14]
In 1948 when the federation failed, sport was not widely practiced throughout the region. Failure is credited to lack of resources and athletes in the area. After the failure of the federation, boxing became a phenomenon in Palestine. Boxing was brought to the region by British soldiers. While the soldiers were invading, tournaments were held around the area. [15]
The 1948 Summer Olympics were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus caused by the outbreak of World War II, these were the first Summer Olympics held since the 1936 Games in Berlin. The 1940 Olympic Games had been scheduled for Tokyo and then for Helsinki, while the 1944 Olympic Games had been provisionally planned for London. This was the second time London hosted the Olympic Games, having previously hosted them in 1908, forty years earlier. The Olympics would return again to London 64 years later in 2012, making London the first city to host the games thrice, and the only such city until Paris and Los Angeles host their third games in 2024 and 2028, respectively. The 1948 Olympic Games were also the first of two summer Games held under the IOC presidency of Sigfrid Edström.
The Jordanian administration of the West Bank officially began on April 24, 1950, and ended with the decision to sever ties on July 31, 1988. The period started during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, when Jordan occupied and subsequently annexed the portion of Mandatory Palestine that became known as the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The territory remained under Jordanian control until it was occupied by Israel during the 1967 Six Day War and eventually Jordan renounced its claim to the territory in 1988.
The Mediterranean Games is a multi-sport event organised by the International Committee of Mediterranean Games (CIJM). It is held every four years among athletes from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea in Africa, Asia and Europe. The first Mediterranean Games were held in 1951 in Alexandria, Egypt, while the most recent games were held in 2022 in Oran, Algeria.
The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) is a governing body of sports in Asia, currently with 45 member National Olympic Committees. Talal Fahad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah was elected as President of the OCA on 8 July 2023. However, on 30 July 2023, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) asked Randhir Singh, who was previously the acting president, to continue as the Acting President of the OCA, while the IOC investigated the OCA presidential election of 2023. On 13 October 2023, the IOC ethics committee asked the OCA to annul its 2023 elections due to Talal’s candidacy not fulfilling the eligibility conditions defined by the OCA Constitution and election interference by his brother Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah.
The culture of Palestinians is influenced by the many diverse cultures and religions which have existed in the historical region of Palestine and the state of Palestine. The cultural and linguistic heritage of Palestinian Arabs along with Lebanese, Syrians, and Jordanians is integral part of levantine Arab culture
Sport in Israel plays an important role in Israeli culture and is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Sport. The most popular sports in Israel have traditionally been Association football (mainly) and basketball (secondly) – with the first being considered the national sport – in both of which Israeli professional teams have been competitive internationally. Israel is an international center for Jewish sport around the world and since 1932 the Maccabiah Games, an Olympic-style event for Jewish athletes, is held in the country. Despite Israel's location in the Asian continent, the Israeli sports associations in various sports belong to the European associations due to the refusal of many Arab Asian countries to compete with Israeli athletes.
Palestine, participated at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States, from 19 July to 4 August 1996. The Palestinian delegation at the 1996 Games included two athletes, runners Majed Abu Maraheel and Ihab Salama, and one official, Muammar Bississo, the president of the Palestine Olympic Committee.
Israel has competed at the Olympic Games as a nation since 1952. Its National Olympic Committee was formed in 1933, during the British Mandate of Palestine. Israel has sent a team to each Summer Olympic Games since 1952, and to each Winter Olympic Games since 1994. The country became a member of the European Olympic Committees (EOC) in 1994.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the State of Palestine:
The Olympic Committee of Israel is the recognized National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Israel, and the governing body of Olympic sports in Israel. The OCI's headquarters is located at the National Sport Center – Tel Aviv.
The Palestine Olympic Committee is the National Olympic Committee of the State of Palestine. 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.
The sport of football in the of State of Palestine is run by the Palestinian Football Association. The association administers national teams and club competitions. They are members of FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation. Women's football is popular also in Palestine. The opening match of the Palestine Women's National Football League on February 10, 2011, in the Feisal al-Husseini Stadium was attended by an estimated 8,000 people. The Women's league has six teams. Football is the most popular sport in Palestine. Honey Thaljieh is a pioneer in women's football.
Jibril Mahmoud Muhammad Rajoub, 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 Olympic Committee. He was the head of the Preventive Security Force in the West Bank until being dismissed in 2002. He had been a member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council until 2009 and was elected to the Fatah Central Committee at the party's 2009 congress, serving as Deputy-Secretary until 2017, before being elected Secretary General of the Central Committee in 2017.
Boycotts of Israel in sports refer to various disqualifications and denial of Israeli athletes. As part of a more or less systematic boycott of Israel, Israeli athletes and teams have been barred from some competitions. In many international competitions, where Israel does take part, such as the Olympic Games, some Arab and Muslim competitors avoid competing against Israelis. Some countries, most notably Iran, even compel their athletes not to compete against Israelis or in Israel.
Palestine competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, held from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This was the nation's fifth consecutive appearance at the Summer Games.
The Mandatory Palestine national football team, also known as the Eretz Israel national football team, represented the British Mandate of Palestine in international football competitions, and was managed by the Palestine Football Association.
The Arab Palestine Sport Federation was a governing body of sport activities for Palestinian Arabs in Mandatory Palestine. The federation was active between 1931 and 1937 and between 1944 and 1948. It organized a variant of activities in various sports, mostly in football, boxing, and weightlifting.
Majed Abu Maraheel, is a retired Palestinian long-distance runner and athletics coach who was the first Palestinian to compete at the Olympic Games. Born to a refugee family in the Gaza Strip, Abu Maraheel worked as a day laborer in Israel before pursuing athletics. He self-trained as a long-distance runner at Gazan streets and beaches, becoming locally famed after winning a variety of local competitions. After winning an 8-kilometre race in 1995, he was recruited by Palestinian National Authority leader Yasser Arafat into Force 17, his personal security force.
Israel is scheduled to compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris from 26 July to 11 August 2024. This will be the nation's 18th appearance at the Summer Olympics, except for Moscow 1980 due to the United States-led boycott. The participation of Israel prompted calls from certain left-wing French lawmakers, Palestinian, and other global sports organizations for sanctions against Israel and to prevent its participation due to the impact of the Israel–Hamas war on Palestinian athletes and sports facilities, but IOC President Thomas Bach confirmed this was never an issue for the IOC and cautioned athletes against boycotts and discrimination. The president of the Olympic Committee of Israel, Yael Arad, assured that Israeli athletes would "100 per cent" be present, with safety measures in place.
Palestinian sports has deteriorated due to the ongoing Israeli invasion of Gaza. By December 2023, at least 85 Palestinian athletes, 55 of them footballers, were killed in Israeli attacks, of whom 18 were children and 37 teenagers. The Israeli invasions have also led to destruction stadiums and closure of clubs.
The most popular sport in Palestine is football