International cycling’s second biggest event, the Giro d’Italia is coming to Israel where three stages will take place next year. It’s a proud achievement for Israel. For some people, however, Israel can do no right and anything that presents Israel in a positive light has sinister undertones.
The Observer (sister paper of The Guardian) covers the story:
According to the journalist Richard Abraham, this is less of a cycle race and more about covering up and distracting attention from Israel’s “occupation” and “international condemnation” of its policies:
Israel is a country of builders. Almost 70 years after its foundation skycrapers jostle for space along the Mediterranean strand, planted in the fertile soil of a Tel Aviv property boom. Up in the Judean Hills, other kinds of structures – architectures of military control in the occupied Palestinian territories – spring up, too.
Israelis are now turning their attention to a new kind of construction: image. Despite the occupation and condemnation from the international community, Israel is ready to project its pride at what it has built and paint over the canvas of conflict.
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All countries try to project positive images of themselves as part of their national brands. Israel is no different. But, for Abraham, it seems that Israel hosting the Giro is politically controversial:
Yet by showcasing Israel amid cultural and artistic boycotts, the 2018 Giro’s grande partenza brings an unprecedented level of political controversy to cycling’s second biggest event.
And why should Israel host the Giro? After all, as The Observer makes sure to point out, Israel is “a country with no cycle racing heritage.” Perhaps the answer is money:
The frustration felt by Jerusalem’s Israeli shopkeepers towards the city’s sports-mad mayor, Nir Barkat, will subside when they count the tourist shekels in their coffers.
The article states:
Israel’s first Grand Tour rider will roll off the start ramp in Jerusalem, possibly alongside a Muslim Turkish team-mate Ahmet Örken, a highly politicised signing that could lead to him becoming his country’s first Grand Tour rider, too. It is a masterstroke of “soft diplomacy”.
Israel has relations (albeit currently tense) with Turkey. Why is it such a big deal that a Turkish Muslim could be part of an Israeli team unless the author of the piece sees Israel as a country where Muslims cannot be a part of everyday life? Again, even the participation of a Turkish Muslim is framed purely as a means of Israeli self-promotion.
The article makes it clear that the cycling routes will be within the Green Line to avoid any political issues. Yet, the story concludes, following a quote from an organization promoting the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign:
Organisers and ministers from here and Italy responded in unison that they would be in Israel to “do sport, not politics”, but as they huddled together behind the Giro’s Trofeo Senza Fine, the trophy without end, the absence of Palestinian faces in the room laid the politics of this event bare.
No amount of pomp, pink and “Normal Israel” can hide it.
Why would there be any Palestinian faces in the room? The author of the piece has, himself, acknowledged that none of the cycling will be going through any Palestinian areas. The only politics that are being laid bare are Abraham’s as he seeks to find way to turn the story into one concerning BDS and politics rather than sport.
For Abraham it appears that Israel can only be seen through the narrow prism of conflict and the narrative that sees “Normal Israel” as a dishonest means of “sport-washing,” “pink-washing” or any number of ways that Israel can divert attention from its alleged crimes.
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