2023-12-13 05:42:44
The Ethics Committee, contacted by the organizers of the Paris Olympics, on Monday recommended the exclusion of former basketball player Émilie Gomis from her role as ambassador of the event, for having positioned herself on Instagram against Israel at war against Hamas. It is now up to Cojo to make the decision whether or not to terminate the contract of the Olympic vice-champion with Les Bleues in 2012, also a member of the board of directors of Paris-2024.
Two days after the attacks perpetrated by Hamas in Israel on October 7, Émilie Gomis published a message in which we saw maps of France from 1947, 1967 and 2023, on which the tricolor flag covering French territory is gradually replaced by the Israeli flag, with this question: “What would you do in this situation?” “.
This illustration, which remained online for 24 hours, “clearly refers to events concerning the State of Israel and Palestine, in particular the Gaza Strip, in particular the plan for the partition of Palestine by the United Nations in 1947, the Six-Day War and the vote on Resolution 242 of the United Nations Security Council in 1967,” recalled the Ethics Committee. “The publication can also be legitimately interpreted as suggesting that the France of 2023, whose map is dominated by the Star of David, is also + invaded by Jews +”, the body further suggests.
Excuses are not enough
Criticized, Émilie Gomis ended up apologizing on December 3 “to those who felt hurt,” on Instagram, adding: “The accusations of anti-Semitism that I face are in total contradiction with the values that have given me been instilled and those that sport taught me.” Insufficient for the CRIF (Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France), which demanded on the same day that she be removed from her position as ambassador to the Paris Olympics.
For the ethics committee, these excuses “are not likely to mitigate, in this case, the seriousness of the breach noted”, especially since if “it concedes” a form of clumsiness (…) it does not repudiate the content of this publication. And to recall that in accordance with the Paris 2024 Ethics Charter, its members and employees must “respect the duty of reserve in their public expression” and “refrain from any act which could harm the image or to the reputation of Paris 2024”.
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