Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has heard the protests against the participation of Israel-Premier Tech team at the cycling race La Vuelta a España, and on Friday afternoon, he posted on X: “Great job to Sylvan and Israel’s cycling team for not giving in to hate and intimidation. You make Israel proud!”.
This comes after nearly two weeks of pro-Palestine protests in La Vuelta, that intensified this week with incidents like Wednesday’s stage in Bilbao finishing earlier than planned and without a winner for security reasons, as there were many protesters around the finish line. However, protests are daily, even in much less populated areas, like Friday’s race in the Angliru mountain in Asturias, where some protesters managed to block the narrow road for 30 seconds (affectinh specifically three cyclists from other teams).
Protests revolve about the participation of Israel-Premier Tech, a team not affiliated directly with Israel’s government, but funded by Sylvan Adams, a billionaire businessman self-proclaimed “ambassador of Israel”, sionist and close friend of Netanyahu, who aims to clean the image of the genocidal state around the world.
Speaking at Israeli outlet Sport 5 (via El País), Adams said that they spent “extremely difficult days in the Basque Country, a region known as a bastion of far-left activists and separatists who like to protest”.
“They are not our friends, that’s for sure. I remind them that in the 1960s and 1970s, the Basque clandestine organization ETA operated and formed an alliance with the PLO [Palestine Liberation Organization]. We weren’t surprised by this unfriendly reception, but even so, I’ve never seen such a dose of hatred”, and added that they will not change their team’s name to remove the name Israel next season, despite rumours: “we will never race without Israel’s word in our name”.
La Vuelta organizers have asked the team their retirement, but they claim they cannot legally expell a team out without consequences from UCI (International Cycling Union) whose president, according to Adams, has an “overwhelming support” to the Israeli team. The team director, who is Spanish, has said that their team is apolitical (which clashes Adam’s vehement nationalism) and that they won’t abandon the race because it would sent a dangerous precedent.
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