Cycling Team Drops 'Israel,' World Media Wonders How Peace Broke Out
The 'Israel-Premier Tech' cycling team, according to Al Jazeera, is dropping 'Israel' from their name following 'mass pro-Palestinian Vuelta protests.' One might almost forget these 'protests' are happening because Netanyahu’s government is enacting policies that the International Court of Justice is examining for plausible genocide. The team’s owner, Sylvan Adams, laments 'politicizing sports,'
conveniently ignoring how branding a team 'Israel' during an active siege against Gaza might, in fact, be a political statement itself. Funny how 'political' only becomes a problem when it shines a light on atrocities. Perhaps the media could focus on why people are protesting, rather than just the 'mass' nature of it. The Al Jazeera piece, while reporting the name change, buries the context of a
2023 'mass cycling event' in occupied Jerusalem in the 6th paragraph. It fails to connect these 'mass events' to the ongoing systemic displacement and violence against Palestinians—a history conveniently omitted in most Western reporting. One might wonder, how many name changes will it take for the world to notice the actual calls embedded in those 'mass protests'?