US Vice President JD Vance And Team Israel Were Booed At The Milan Cortina Winter Olympics Opening
The reactions were described as protests related to the war in Gaza and criticism of US immigration enforcement policies.
Israel’s Olympic team and US vice president JD Vance were booed at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics opening ceremony.
On Friday, Feb. 6, crowds have erupted in boos in the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, during the parade of participating countries as Israel’s four-person delegation marched into the stadium, waving the country's flag and smiling despite the country’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.
The boos were quickly overshadowed by the loud music.
Despite a UN committee finding in 2024 that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has allowed Israel to compete in the Olympics, saying Israel has not breached the Olympic charter, according to AP.
The IOC, however, has suspended Russia from joining the Olympics since 2023 for breaking the Olympic charter by annexing territories in eastern Ukraine.
Only Russian athletes who are given neutral status are allowed to compete without their national identity, flag, anthem and colors.
Cheers for the US team also turned into boos when Vance and his wife Usha Vance appeared on the stadium's big screen.
The boos were in protest over the US’ controversial and violent immigration enforcement policies.
People in Italy had held just days earlier a huge protest after the US announced it would send Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to Italy to support the US delegation during the Olympics.
ICE has come under heavy criticism for violently conducting raids on immigration, which increased after officers shot and killed two US citizens, Alex Pretti and Renée Nicole Good, in Minnesota.
Israel has killed more than 72,027 Palestinians, mostly women and children, including at least 576 people, since the “ceasefire” began on Oct. 10.
Sofia Hou
Sofia Hou
Ikran Dahir
