The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement has called for peaceful protests at this year’s Grand Tours against the participation of Israel–Premier Tech.
In an announcement published yesterday, the BDS Movement says the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta España are allowing “Israel Premier Tech, a cycling team representing Israel, to participate”.
“As Israel escalates its ongoing genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza and its violent military occupation of the West Bank, international sporting bodies have a moral obligation to take all measures to prevent genocide, or risk being held criminally liable,” the announcement reads.
The BDS Movement adds that by allowing Israel–Premier Tech to participate in the three Grand Tours, the events are helping Israel “sportswash its grave crimes against Palestinians”.
Sportswashing is typically described as a public relations exercise to use sport to help improve the reputation of a government or state.
Political scientist Jiri Zakravsky, author of Cycling Diplomacy: Undemocratic Regimes and Professional Road Cycling Teams Sponsorship, explained to BikeRadar that the term “is closely connected with governments and governmental activities, especially in the context of human rights”.
Who are Israel–Premier Tech?
Israel–Premier Tech was founded in 2014 and is co-owned by Canadian-Israeli billionaire Sylvan Adams.
Adams has referred to himself as a “self-appointed ambassador at large for the State of Israel”. He drove Israel’s £9m bid to host the start of the 2018 Giro d’Italia and built the region’s first Olympic-standard velodrome in the same year.
Adams has previously said the UCI ProSeries team is apolitical and not a government project, although it receives a “pitiful small amount” of funding from the national tourism board.
Ron Baron, the team’s other co-owner, has described Israel–Premier Tech as a form of “sports diplomacy”. Israeli Guy Niv, who rode for the team from 2018 to 2022 and is a former army sniper, has said every rider on the team understands that “being on an Israeli team, they are ambassadors for the country”.
Adams has described Israel’s invasion of Palestine as “good vs. evil and civilization against barbarism” and said anti-Israel activity is “aided by useful idiots” in the West.
'UCI hypocrisy'
Ahead of the Giro d’Italia starting on 9 May, the BDS Movement’s call for protest also accuses the UCI, cycling’s international governing body, of “hypocrisy”.
It says the UCI sanctioned Russia days into its invasion of Ukraine, suspending Russian and Belarusian teams and banning UCI events in Russia and Belarus, but that it has not taken the same measures against Israel.
The BDS Movement claims the UCI “is now helping to sportswash Israel’s Gaza genocide by allowing Israel–Premier Tech to participate” in its events.
The BDS Movement upholds the principle that “Palestinians are entitled to the same rights as the rest of humanity”. It was launched by 170 Palestinian unions, refugee networks and other bodies after Palestinian civil society organisations in 2005 called for boycotts, divestment and sanctions as a form of non-violent pressure on Israel.
BikeRadar has contacted Israel–Premier Tech and A.S.O, the organiser of the Tour de France, for comment.
