First time ever posting to the EC CommunityâŚ
I hit play on the Spin Cycle podcast last night with a sense of trepidation⌠worried that if the guys play it safe with the âlets keep sport out of politicsâ line - then I might lose respect for this whole thing.
Thankfully Caley/Johnny/Dane didnât disappoint⌠I felt they navigated this difficult topic well. Was also informative for me - I hadnât appreciated the extent to which the Israel team was created to âbring politics to the sportâ.
Personally, I wouldnât use the word âwarâ - because it seems to just be flat out genocide now - it stopped being a war a while back - but thatâs a minor quibble.
So - really good job guys. Thanks.
(and the stuff about Ayuso at the end was chucklesome).
Unfortunately, another major team sponsor, including a key player behind the support for sports investments, is directly tied to financing an ongoing civil war (and genocide) that has displaced over 10 million people and induced famine.
I fully support your right to go and protest against them.
Ugh. That is so awful.
Edit: this was a poorly written post so Iâve deleted it. I think the response to post about the UAEâs funding of the genocide in Sudan came from a place of frustration about this being an example of Whataboutism. I interpreted that response as being dismissive of a serious issue. What followed was my attempt to understand the possible reasons why there has been such massive protest against IPT, yet virtually nothing against UAE and other sportwashing entities.
I love cycling and despise sportwashing. The IPT protests yielded results. Iâd love for the other sportwashing entities to receive even a fraction of that ire. The IPT example shows us that public pressure can work, so there is maybe hope we could drive the sportwashing money out of our sport. In this regard, I think itâs useful to understand why IPT got so much attention and why UAE receives comparatively little.
Thatâs OKâŚ.I find the âWhatabout-ismâ of counterpoints like this equally frustrating. But you are also making a lot of erroneous assumptions about my post.
Outrage over the actions of nation-states that are sponsoring cycling teams is not a Zero Sum Game I can be angry over the actions of UAE in Sudan and equally outraged by the actions of Israel in Gaza. But this discussion is about Israel, IPT and the protests against that team.
Similarly, I can support the protests against IPT and also be willing to support protests against UAE or Bahrain teams.
Intellectual Consistency.
As to why there is more backlash against Israel, it seems the answers are pretty clear. You have a state that is directly unleashing widespread death and destruction on a largely-civilian population, much of which is in full view for the world to see. It is visceral and in real-time.
In contrast, UAEâs actions in Sudan (along with their other human rights abuses) are largely behind-the-scenesâŚ.we donât see UAE forces actually committing the atrocities, hence there is less of a visceral reaction. And yes, there is likely some degree of disregard to the actions in Sudan because it is happening in Africa.
I wholly reject and resent your implications of antisemitism.
Seriously, youâre suggesting that someone focusing their protests on the Israeli governmentâs actions against the people in Gaza might have some some anti-semitic component? Seriously? Why is it you didnât consider that a person canât protest everything at once, eh?
That âquestionâ is really disgusting and another example of dumbing everything down to binary options. So much for critical thinking.
Fair enough. I was really asking questions rather than attempting to make assertions, but I can see how my post might be construed that way. I find Whataboutisms frustrating as well, and my post certainly wasnât meant to suggest that if you donât protest UAE, Ineos, Bahrain, Total etc then you shouldnât protest IPT. Iâd just love to understand the different responses between what to me are the two most similar sport washing entities right now. In that sense, I appreciate your response and itâs exactly what I was looking for - yes Gaza has to large degree been happening right in front of our faces, while press coverage of the Darfur situation does not seem to have received the same attention. And yes itâs easier to connect the state of Israel to those atrocities since theyâre doing them vs just funding them like the UAE. So that makes sense.
I did not mean to imply there was an antisemitic component to your post - the idea that all criticism of Israel is inherently antisemitic is ridiculous and does seem to be a tactic Israel apologists use to shut down debate. Antisemitism is a thing though, and I feel like I have to acknowledge the possibility that there could be a component of that playing a role here for some people.
Clearly I worded my response poorly. Iâm just really hoping we see some positive momentum from the IPT protests and start to see more protests against the other sportwashing teams (as long as they donât pose any danger to the riders).
Sorry. I guess thereâs no way to ask if antisemitism could play a role without implying that it does play a role.
As for the idea for that we canât all protest everything all at once, sure. Weâve only got so much time and bandwidth. I donât think you, or anyone else, has to protest everything. Iâm just really genuinely interested in which movements inspire action more than others and why. @VeloBouf helpfully provided some possible answers there.