Join the Global Day of Action for Palestine! Rally at 5pm at Adelaide's Parliament House steps
Then at 7pm be at Wakefield Street, the start and finish point for the first short race of the Tour Down Under, ending at 8:15pm.
Be at the start and finish lines or along the route to protest the inclusion of the Israeli Team in Australia's premier cycling event. The Israel Premier-Tech Cycling Team is not Welcome in South Australia’s Tour Down Under while Israel is conducting a genocide in Gaza.
Israel Premier-Tech Cycling Team Not Welcome in South Australia’s Tour Down Under
South Australia’s leaders have once again let down the slaughtered and suffering people of Gaza.
Thousands upon thousands of South Australians are raising their voices to protest the Israeli genocide in Gaza and the 75 years of vicious oppression of Palestinians by the apartheid state of Israel. This oppression includes 56 years of a brutal military occupation and a 16-year inhumane siege on Gaza.
The Malinauskas Government and the Adelaide City Council were quick to light up Adelaide Oval, Parliament House, Government House, the River Torrens foot bridge and the Town Hall in the Israeli colours after 7 October 2023. However, they have continuously refused to light up these landmarks in the colours of the Palestinian flag in solidarity with the Palestinian people. Do our leaders believe that 22,438 Palestinian lives, including those of 9,600 children, are worth less than 1,139 Israeli lives.
To add insult to injury, the Israeli flag is now flying in Adelaide over the Tour Down Under village at Tarntanyangga/Victoria Square. This is because the Israeli based cycling team, Israel-Premier Tech, has been allowed to participate in one of Australia’s major sporting events, the Tour Down Under 2024.
Israel-Premier Tech is based in Israel and is managed by Israelis. While the seven members of the team in Australia are not Israeli, the Israel-Premier Tech website (general news section) features stories about October 7 and Israeli hostages. The website makes it absolutely clear that the team “flies the flag for Israel”.
AFOPA understands that the South Australian Tourism Commission has a World Tour licence from the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and as such has contractual obligations in respect of the Tour Down Under and participating teams. At the same time, it is intolerable that an Israeli team is participating in the Tour Down Under while a genocide is being perpetrated in Gaza by Israel, and while Palestine remains under the occupation of an apartheid state.
Australians were prepared to boycott a South African rugby team (the Springboks) during that county’s apartheid era – an era that ultimately came to an end because of grassroots boycotts against South Africa’s participation in the world economy and cultural and sporting events. Apartheid was wrong in South Africa and is wrong in Palestine.
Call to action - here’s what you can do
Protest the presence of the Israeli team during the seven stages of the Tour Down Under. For maximum effect bring your Palestinian flags and placards to the start and finish lines, where the media will be present.
Line the routes of the race stages (see below for locations) bringing flags, banners, etc.
Go to Victoria Square with your Palestinian flag and take a photo of yourself waving it near the Tour Down Under village. Post the photo on your social media and make sure you send one in so we can post it on AFOPA's social media.
Join AFOPA’s BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) group and raise the Palestinian flag at the Tour Down Under village. Contact AFOPA on secretary@afopa.com.au and we will put you in touch with our BDS coordinator.
Write to Zoe Bettison MP, SA's Minister for Tourism to express your views about the Israeli team being here for this event, and don't forget to copy in the Premier. The Minister, Zoe Bettison MP: MinisterBettison@sa.gov.au; The Premier, Peter Malinauskas MP: Premier@sa.gov.au.
Together we can send a clear message that the apartheid state of Israel is not welcome at this event while it conducts a genocide and the occupation of an entire people.
The Tour Down Under races commence on 13 January, the same day that a Global Day of Action for Palestine has been called. Please keep your eye on AFOPA's action alerts like this one, and regularly check AFOPA’s Events Schedule on our website. Events are also posted to our Facebook Page, Instagram and X accounts.
