Anonymous threats to Israeli athletes spark Olympic scandal in Paris
Scandal at the Olympic Games in Paris. Israeli athletes are receiving anonymous threats linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Gaza Strip. The Olympians admit they fear for their lives and well-being.
Officials from the Israeli Olympic mission have formally reported the threats. Athletes are facing these threats as a consequence of the escalating conflict in the Gaza Strip. The prospect of a wider conflict in the Middle East, unfortunately, seems very real.
According to Yael Arad, head of the Israeli National Olympic Committee, Israeli athletes are being terrorised and cannot concentrate on their athletic performance. Arad is urging French authorities to take concrete steps to apprehend the culprits.
Yael Arad told the Associated Press that members of Israeli team received "centralized" threats meant to generate "psychological terror".
French authorities are looking for the culprits
The Paris prosecutor's office launched an investigation last week into the emails received by Israeli athletes. The origin of the threats remains unknown at this time.
There was also a leak of personal data of members of the Israeli Olympic mission. Prosecutors are also investigating the possibility of incitement to racial hatred. During the Israel-Paraguay match, obscene gestures were directed at the players.
Israeli athletes are calling for calm. Tom Reuveny, Olympic windsurfing champion, stated in an interview with AP that such behaviour could lead to a tragedy similar to that witnessed at the Olympic Games in Munich in 1972.
Let us recall that members of the Palestinian organisation Black September carried out a terrorist attack in which 11 Israeli athletes and coaches were killed.
