@middleeasteye: “I’m very, very happy ... to raise my flag, to have time just for Palestine, a lane just for Palestine. I think this is my message of peace. We’re trying to get the world to know that we’re human beings.” Palestinian swimmer Yazan Al Bawwab wore the Palestinian flag on his chest during his race at the Paris Olympics on Sunday. The 24-year-old competed in the 100 metres backstroke heat, finishing third, which marked his first and final participation in this year’s Games. Speaking after the race, he expressed the importance of representing his homeland, amid severe shortages of basic resources like food and water as a result of Israel’s full siege on Gaza. Al Bawwab, an aerospace engineer, said his father had been a homeless refugee in Italy before rebuilding his life. “I look at people like my dad who came from nothing,” he said. “I’m never complaining in the pool, I remember people in Gaza, people in Palestine that suffer properly.” Previously, Al Bawwab was one of five Palestinians to compete in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. His participation in this year’s games comes amid Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza, in which around 350 Palestinian athletes have been killed over the past 10 months, according to Palestine’s Olympic Committee.