The Ethics Committee, approached by the organizers of the Paris Olympics, recommended on Monday the exclusion of former basketball player Émilie Gomis from her role as ambassador for the event, for taking a stance on Instagram against Israel in its war with Hamas. It is now up to the Cojo to decide whether to terminate the contract of the vice-olympic champion with the French national team in 2012, who is also a member of the board of directors of Paris-2024.
Two days after the attacks carried out by Hamas in Israel on October 7th, Émilie Gomis had posted a message showing maps of France from 1947, 1967, and 2023, in which the French tricolor flag covering the territory is gradually replaced by the Israeli flag, with the 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, including the UN plan for the partition of Palestine in 1947, the Six-Day War and the vote on UN Security Council Resolution 242 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 the Jews’,” the committee added.
Apologies are not enough
Criticized, Émilie Gomis eventually apologized on December 3rd “to those who felt offended,” on Instagram, adding: “The accusations of anti-Semitism that I am facing are in total contradiction with the values that have been instilled in me and those that sport has taught me.” This was insufficient for the CRIF (Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions), which demanded on the same day that she be removed from her role as ambassador to the Paris Olympics.
According to the ethics committee, these apologies “are not sufficient to mitigate the seriousness of the identified breach,” especially as “while she admits ‘a form of clumsiness (…), she does not disavow the content of this publication.” The committee also reminded that in accordance with the Ethics Charter of Paris 2024, its members and employees must “respect the duty of reserve in their public expression” and “refrain from any act that could harm the image or reputation of Paris 2024.”
