Pro-Palestine activists have called for
Israel - Premier Tech to be confronted by more protests than ever at both the
Giro d'Italia and
Tour de France this year, in light of Israel's ongoing invasion of Gaza.
In a post on the official Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) site on Monday, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel wrote: "We call for more protests than ever along the race routes of the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France, which will start from Italy this year."
The organisation refers to Israel - Premier Tech as being "Israeli government-sponsored", stating that the outfit serves to "sportswash" what it calls a "75-year-long regime of military occupation and apartheid."
Israel - Premier Tech is not directly connected to the country's government, but the squad has a strong association with Israel through its co-owners, Israeli-Canadian billionaire Sylvan Adams and Israeli businessman Ron Baron.
Protesting against something from the side is fine. But it is unlikely to be effective since it is thousands of Km away for the source in a country not related to the conflict. 2nd is that most people associated with the team are non-Israelis or civilians not involved in the conflict. Cycling reach is very limited as well compared to football.
Likely there will also be disruptions and possible abuse/violence of the cyclists and staff which will harm tourism in that country and reduce the appeal of cycling to sponsors
Agreed
Imagine bringing Politics into everything 😕