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Human rights groups urge Giro d'Italia to ditch plans for Israeli Big Start

More than 120 organisations sign appeal to race organisers, highlighting plight of Palestinians

More than 120 organisations have today issued an appeal to Giro d’Italia organisers RCS Sport not to hold the start of next year’s race in Israel because of what they see as the country’s “grave and escalating violations of international law and Palestinians’ human rights.”

The appeal, led by the European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine, comes a week to the day before the full route of next year’s race is due to be announced in Milan, with next Wednesday also coinciding with the UN International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

Besides human rights organisations and trade unions, signatories to the appeal also include the American intellectual Noam Chomsky, the former UN Special Rapporteurs on Palestinian rights John Dugard and Richard Falk, and ex-vice president of the European Parliament Luisa Morgantini.

Details of the three-day Big Start in Israel were announced by RCS Sport in September, with the race due to begin with a 10.1-kilometre individual time trial in Jerusalem, followed by two road stages.

> Details of Israeli Big Start for 2018 Giro d'Italia unveiled

At the time, Giro d’Italia race director Mauro Vegni said: “We are really proud to announce this Big Start to the world today.

“Every year the Giro tells the stories of places of great interest. Cities such as Jerusalem, with the initial ITT, Tel Aviv, with the finish on the seafront, the starts from Haifa and Be’er Sheva, Eilat and the Red Sea, are part of this philosophy.

“The territories crossed by the stages in Israel will show to the world tradition, culture and beautiful landscape. We will see spectacular stages, that will surprise both from a sporting perspective and from the landscape point of view.

“I am convinced the welcome for the Corsa Rosa – as we have already seen in the previous Big Starts abroad – will be really special,” he added.

The race’s visit coincides with the 70th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel, but the organisations protesting against the race’s visit to the country highlight that for Palestinians, it marks “70 years of dispossession, forcible displacement and denial of the rights of Palestinian refugees as set forth in UN resolutions.”

They add: “In official race imagery, maps and videos, Giro d’Italia is deceptively portraying East Jerusalem, which has been under Israeli military occupation for fifty years, as if it were part of Israel and the unified capital of the State of Israel.

“The final stage planned for southern Israel will pass by dozens of Palestinian Bedouin villages Israel refuses to recognize or provide with “the most basic of services, including electricity, water, clinics, schools and roads,” one of which Israel has demolished over 100 times.”

Signatories are demanding that RCS Sport “move the start of the race to another country to ensure no involvement in Israeli violations of international law and Palestinian human rights.”

While RCS Sport insists that the decision to begin next year’s race in Israel is a sporting, not political one, what will be the biggest sporting event ever staged in the country has been widely viewed as a public relations coup for the country’s government.

With the race expected to finish in Rome next year, Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has invited Pope Francis to Jerusalem to officially start the race, but protesters are urging him not to accept.

Meanwhile, this coming weekend will see cyclists in cities across Italy ride in protest at Israel’s hosting of the Giro.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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42 comments

Avatar
Yorkshire wallet | 6 years ago
1 like

Israel and the US are certainly guilty of grade A shit-stirring and destabilizing the world.

Both their secret services basically do whatever they want.

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jacknorell replied to Yorkshire wallet | 6 years ago
0 likes
Yorkshire wallet wrote:

Israel and the US are certainly guilty of grade A shit-stirring and destabilizing the world.

Both their secret services basically do whatever they want.

Every country's intelligence services do whatever deemed expedient.

I suggest you read up on the sort of antics the British ones get up to around the world and domestically.

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darrenleroy | 6 years ago
4 likes

I wonder if those who are quick to condemn Israel would be so quick to condemn the nations holding the following UCI races: The Tour of Qatar, The Tour of Oman, the Dubai Tour, the Tour of Qinghai Lake (China), the Abu Dhabi Tour?

All of these countries violate human rights on a grand scale. They don't even have functioning democracies.

They oppress their own citizens (women, minority religions, ethnic minorities) in ways Israel couldn't even begin to dream of, and yet not a peep from us on Road CC.

Before you buy that Merida bike, or hop on that Emirates flight, or holiday in Dubai, take a long, hard think about the kind of regimes you're legitimising through your actions.

I'll be watching the Giro, because while I understand Israel is far from perfect in its treatment of Palestinians, I also understand that it is surrounded on all sides by countries that want to see its complete and utter destruction. For that reason alone I'll be watching. Next year in Jerusalem.
 

 

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Paul J | 6 years ago
4 likes

Some amazing whataboutery going on in the comments.

Hey, human rights violations in... Bahrain *totally* make those in occupied Palestine completely OK. (And FWIW, plenty of people were unhappy with the UCI WC being held in Qatar).

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Leodis | 6 years ago
2 likes

Fucking hell I thought this was a cycling site not a Momentum soggy biscuit party.

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burtthebike | 6 years ago
6 likes

There is no doubt that Israel is in breach of quite a few UN resolutions, and the Gaza strip is the largest prison in the world.  Sporting boycotts and sanctions worked for South Africa and would appear to be appropriate, to me at least, in this situation.

Having the Giro start there is quite a coup, for which they no doubt paid a pretty penny, designed to show the nice side of a state which oppresses millions.  Unlike Carlton Reid, who is probably going for professional reasons, I won't be going.

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Edgeley replied to burtthebike | 6 years ago
2 likes

burtthebike wrote:

There is no doubt that Israel is in breach of quite a few UN resolutions, and the Gaza strip is the largest prison in the world.  Sporting boycotts and sanctions worked for South Africa and would appear to be appropriate, to me at least, in this situation.

Having the Giro start there is quite a coup, for which they no doubt paid a pretty penny, designed to show the nice side of a state which oppresses millions.  Unlike Carlton Reid, who is probably going for professional reasons, I won't be going.

 

 

You do know that the Gaza strip has a border with Egypt as well as Israel?   And yet you see Israel as the prison guard.   Wonder what it is about the Jewish state that makes certain people think its human rights violations are more important than those of other countries.

Not sure what this has with cycling though.....

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darrenleroy replied to Edgeley | 6 years ago
0 likes

Edgeley wrote:

burtthebike wrote:

There is no doubt that Israel is in breach of quite a few UN resolutions, and the Gaza strip is the largest prison in the world.  Sporting boycotts and sanctions worked for South Africa and would appear to be appropriate, to me at least, in this situation.

Having the Giro start there is quite a coup, for which they no doubt paid a pretty penny, designed to show the nice side of a state which oppresses millions.  Unlike Carlton Reid, who is probably going for professional reasons, I won't be going.

 

 

You do know that the Gaza strip has a border with Egypt as well as Israel?   And yet you see Israel as the prison guard.   Wonder what it is about the Jewish state that makes certain people think its human rights violations are more important than those of other countries.

Not sure what this has with cycling though.....

 

Your question of why Israel invites more condemnation than other countries can be answered full stop:

1. Many are ignorant of the facts surrounding Israel and its neighbours.
An example of this ignorance being: Israel withdrew from Gaza unilaterally as part of the ongoing peace process with Fatah, the governing party of the Palestinian territories. Then Fatah was ousted in Gaza by Hamas, an extreme right wing, ideologically driven, religious autocracy who proceeded to bomb Israel's civilian population on a weekly basis and continue to do so despite being asked repeatedly not to by Israel. As a result Israel has closed the border between the two countries and occasionally bombs Gaza in retaliation. As any normal country would. 

2. Through some kind of inverse racism we judge Israelis to a higher standard than Muslim Arabs. We excuse the actions of Muslim Arab nations – ethnic and religious violence, rape, exile, no rule of law, no democracy, thugs as head of state, no equality of the sexes etc – while condemning Israel's building of settlements in Palestinian territories. Why? Because Israelis are seen as intelligent, enlightened Europeans, whereas Arabs are seen as 'the other', the monster in the room, not to be prodded, unable to live with reason and enlightenment values. 

3. Good old-fashioned anti-semitism. 
There is a minority of people who simply hate the idea of Jewish people having a homeland. Actually, they simply hate the idea of Jews full stop. 

 

Avatar
Yorkshire wallet replied to darrenleroy | 6 years ago
0 likes

darrenleroy wrote:

 As a result Israel has closed the border between the two countries and occasionally bombs Gaza in retaliation. As any normal country would

 

Yeah. I remember all the times we flew into Southern Ireland with helicopter gunships and tore-up know IRA territories.

Your example is just an example of Israel doing whatever it pleases. More Mossad vicar?

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Canyon48 | 6 years ago
1 like

The amount of horrendous anti-Isreal comments I hear at university are, quite frankly, terrifying. Certain parts of certain groups just seem to make hateful comments try to justify it because of the wrongdoings of others.

I'm not interested in trying to argue about whos right or wrong. But let's face it, denying a country the start of a cycle race is going to do SFA to prevent that country from committing war crimes.

If the race shouldn't start in Israel on moral grounds, then Team Sky, Bahrain Merida etc shouldn't be allowed to race and no petrol/oil should be used to enable a grand tour to go ahead.

I'm sure most the people who make all the anti-whatever comments have no problem driving a car (or being on a bus/train, or using electricity) powered by oil dug up from the ground by a company exploiting a country's natural resources.

 

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ironmancole | 6 years ago
2 likes

Giro D'Italia should start and finish in Italy.  What's the point of it otherwise?  Why can't Israel just get it's own tour and ensure that the marketing needs (which is cynically the whole point of the event) are local to that country?

I mean is the typical person over there even going to know what half of the trade teams even are?  Can you get a Sky box in Israel?

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ConcordeCX replied to ironmancole | 6 years ago
4 likes

ironmancole wrote:

  Can you get a Sky box in Israel?

course you can. Here’s a couple being delivered:

 

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theloststarfighter | 6 years ago
3 likes

I vote to move the start to North Korea. They can organise huge crowds who can clap for hours and hours not to mention some co-ordinated marching  and fireworks as well.... that wouldn't be controversial at all. 

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davel | 6 years ago
3 likes

Sorry Carlton - didn't catch that. You're going to the what, where?

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Carlton Reid replied to davel | 6 years ago
2 likes

davel wrote:

Sorry Carlton - didn't catch that. You're going to the what, where?

 

New York. New York. So good they named it twice.

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Carlton Reid | 6 years ago
1 like

I am going to the Giro start in Israel. There, said it.

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Carlton Reid | 6 years ago
3 likes

I am going to the Giro start in Israel. There, said it.

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Edgeley | 6 years ago
4 likes

There are an awful lot of statements on here veering from anti-Israeli stuff into antisemitism.  As pointed out above, saying "nuke Israel" actually means nuke the Jews in Israel, not the third of the citizens who aren't Jewish.

 

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Ush replied to Edgeley | 6 years ago
5 likes

Edgeley wrote:

There are an awful lot of statements on here veering from anti-Israeli stuff into antisemitism.  As pointed out above, saying "nuke Israel" actually means nuke the Jews in Israel, not the third of the citizens who aren't Jewish.

Agreed. The disgusting "nuke Israel" comment could almost have been written by a troll (or hasbara volunteer[*]) trying to make it appear that boycotting Israel is mainly supported by anti-semites. 

http://www.mepc.org/speeches/hasbara-and-control-narrative-element-strategy

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Yorkshire wallet | 6 years ago
0 likes

My main point of opposition to the stages is they look boring as hell. It'll just be a group ride out until the last 500m.

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frogg | 6 years ago
3 likes

Haven't heard any one of these so called "Human Rights Organization" when a quatari policeman deliberatly run over a young (female) Norwegian cyclist at the 2016 UCI  World Championship

http://road.cc/content/news/211474-norwegian-federation-claims-qatari-po...

http://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/racing/norwegian-rider-deliberately-ru...

By the way, no one of these did protest at the organization of these Championships in Doha ...

 

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reliablemeatloaf | 6 years ago
5 likes

When I read of this start idea a few months ago, I thought it was a dumb idea. It's called the Giro d'ITALIA for a reason.

Now this race will be the subject of boycotts, arguments, protests, and possibly terrorism, just because the promoters want publicity.

Cheap, and poorly thought out.

Avatar
MovingViolation replied to reliablemeatloaf | 6 years ago
2 likes

reliablemeatloaf wrote:

When I read of this start idea a few months ago, I thought it was a dumb idea. It's called the Giro d'ITALIA for a reason.

A valid point. Similarly the TdF should stick to France, Vuelta to Spain, etc. Not a fan of gimickry and marketing nonsense -- especially starts in other countries. I doubt it does much to promote the sport. I suspect it has much more to do with subsidies  == socialising costs whilst privatising profits when one really drills down. Which the cycling press is not at all likely to do  1

reliablemeatloaf wrote:

Now this race will be the subject of boycotts, arguments, protests, and possibly terrorism, just because the promoters want publicity.

Cheap, and poorly thought out.

Having stated my caveats to this kind of commercially driven crassness above, I still feel that what's good for the goose is good for the gander. 

 

Avatar
SNS1938 | 6 years ago
3 likes

Interesting to bring up Bahrain Merida (and the UAE team?) ... I wonder if they'll boycot the Giro.

If I watch the 2018 Giro or not, I don't think RCS care one little bit. 

Avatar
MovingViolation | 6 years ago
5 likes

Roll on the Guardian-reading anti-semites. I love cycling, but it does seem to attract its fair share of hate-filled SJWs.

Instead of spilling your cheap virtue-signalling bile in this forum, why not do something truly courageous: e.g. dress up in drag / miniskirt and take your bike for a leisurely pedal through (say) Luton.

 

Avatar
jasecd replied to MovingViolation | 6 years ago
12 likes

MovingViolation wrote:

Roll on the Guardian-reading anti-semites. I love cycling, but it does seem to attract its fair share of hate-filled SJWs.

Instead of spilling your cheap virtue-signalling bile in this forum, why not do something truly courageous: e.g. dress up in drag / miniskirt and take your bike for a leisurely pedal through (say) Luton.

 

I see this is your first and only post - if I were you I would keep it that way.

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MovingViolation replied to jasecd | 6 years ago
1 like

jasecd wrote:

 

I see this is your first and only post - if I were you I would keep it that way.

I'd rather be banned (no sweat off my back) than roll over for the likes of you. Whoever you are.

Pray do tell us about your hard work boycotting Bahrain and/or Merida (by association) in the interests of human rights. Or the Dubai Tour, for that matter.

This is an utterly pointless Dog Bites Man article. As if it's even news that the usual suspects would attempt to stir up a boycott against an international sporting event in Israel. Knock me out with a feather. Contemptible Clickbait.

 

Avatar
jasecd replied to MovingViolation | 6 years ago
7 likes

MovingViolation wrote:

jasecd wrote:

I see this is your first and only post - if I were you I would keep it that way.

I'd rather be banned (no sweat off my back) than roll over for the likes of you. Whoever you are.

Pray do tell us about your hard work boycotting Bahrain and/or Merida (by association) in the interests of human rights. Or the Dubai Tour, for that matter.

This is an utterly pointless Dog Bites Man article. As if it's even news that the usual suspects would attempt to stir up a boycott against an international sporting event in Israel. Knock me out with a feather. Contemptible Clickbait.

 

Ahh, the "likes of me" - You know nothing about me other than I told you to stop posting. Judging by your follow up it's a shame you didn't take my advice. 

FYI - no-one get's banned here but they often get called out for being full of shit.

Avatar
CygnusX1 replied to jasecd | 6 years ago
1 like

jasecd wrote:

FYI - no-one get's banned here but they often get called out for being full of shit.

Not true - but you have to work quite hard to be hit with the ban-hammer. Among the dear departed are "J Willo" and "SuperPython59" the former was a troll and the latter was involved in an argument that escalated big style.

Avatar
davel replied to CygnusX1 | 6 years ago
2 likes

CygnusX1 wrote:

jasecd wrote:

FYI - no-one get's banned here but they often get called out for being full of shit.

Not true - but you have to work quite hard to be hit with the ban-hammer. Among the dear departed are "J Willo" and "SuperPython59" the former was a troll and the latter was involved in an argument that escalated big style.

The latter was involved in plenty of arguments that escalated big style.

However, the one that got him banned didn't escalate that much - he just went off a bit conspiracy/illuminati-ish and Leviathan had a humourless f-bomb hissy fit, as he is wont to do when someone challenges his simple worldview.

For some bizarre reason, SP59 got the chop and Leviathan didn't.

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