Protesters gathered at the foot of Mount Royal to demonstrate against the participation of the Israel-Premier Tech team in the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal on Sunday.
In a social media post, the groups Cyclists for Palestine, Palestinian and Jewish Unity (PAJU) and Divest for Palestine called on citizens to mobilize and urged event organizers and sponsors to “exclude the team complicit in genocide from the Grands Prix in Quebec.”
The organizations accuse Israel-Premier Tech of being “complicit with the genocidal entity” and engaging in “sportswashing,” a term used when an organization uses sports to improve its reputation and cover up its wrongdoings.
The three organizations stressed that Sunday’s demonstration is a “last resort” to demand Israel-Premier Tech’s exclusion, noting they had already launched a petition, published an open letter and appealed to municipal authorities in the cities hosting the Grand Prix.
A large group of protesters gathered outside the event’s official hotel in downtown Montreal on Saturday night.
On Friday, a small group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators also protested at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec race in Quebec City.
“Israel-Premier Tech is not just a sports team: it’s a propaganda machine,” said Safa Chebbi, spokesperson for Divest for Palestine, in a statement released Sunday morning. “Allowing it to participate means accepting that Montreal continues to be complicit in the genocide in Gaza.
“We refuse to let our streets and our events, partly funded by public money from Canada and the City of Montreal, be used to whitewash the crimes of a colonial and genocidal entity.”
Protests against Israel-Premier Tech have also taken place in recent weeks at the Spanish Vuelta, which led the team to remove any reference to Israel from its jerseys.
Israel-Premier Tech is co-owned by Canadian-Israeli businessman Sylvan Adams. He has previously described the riders as ambassadors for Israel, but the team has since referred to itself as simply a “professional cycling team” in response to protests.
Earlier in September, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his support for Adams, praising his refusal to withdraw the team from sporting events despite protests.
Israel-Premier Tech’s team at the Vuelta includes Canadian rider Pier-Andre Cote. Other Canadian riders on the IPT roster include Michael Woods, Hugo Houle, Guillaume Boivin, Riley Pickrell and Derek Gee, who is currently in a contract dispute with the team. Former Canadian star Steve Bauer is the team’s sporting manager.
The team’s title sponsor, Premier Tech, is based in Riviere-du-Loup, Que.
