Israeli triathletes in Tenerife are urged to be boycotted due to their connections with the army and government.
The Podemos party has called for a ban on the participation of the Israeli team in the European Triathlon Cup in Tenerife, accusing it of ties to Israeli state structures and using sports to whitewash its reputation.
On Friday, the Podemos party called on the authorities of the city of Santa Cruz and the island council of Tenerife to immediately ban the Israeli team from participating in the European Triathlon Cup, which is taking place in Tenerife this weekend. They also called on people to take part in peaceful protests against what they call "another provocation of sports Zionism in the Canary Islands."
Podemos emphasizes that the three Israeli athletes – Shahar Agur, Omer Zafrir, and Roy Baron – are not acting as private individuals, but as official representatives of "a country that commits war crimes and systematically improves its image in the world through sports."
The party said in a statement that "all three athletes are associated with Israeli state structures, train at the Maccabi RoadRunner club, which was created by the Zionist movement to promote Jewish nationalism through sports. At least two of them served in the army, which kills civilians in Gaza, with the status of "soldier-athlete"."
Podemos claims that Shahar Agur, the current champion of Israel, "said in an interview that he competes thinking of his fellow soldiers, at a time when Israel is bombing Gaza and holding international activists hostage, including two women from the Canary Islands who are part of the Sumud Flotilla."
Podemos also notes that the Maccabi club, "which finances his career, organizes competitions that are regularly attended by high-ranking Israeli military and government officials, and is part of the history of the State of Israel as an instrument of external propaganda."
"This is not a triathlon, but an attempt to whitewash the reputation. While Israel is holding our comrades and killing Palestinian civilians, it comes to Tenerife to flaunt its flag as if nothing happened. Every Israeli athlete at the start is a humiliation for the victims and for all the Canary Islands," said Idaia Afonso, a councilor from Unidas se puede in the city council of La Laguna.
Therefore, she calls on the authorities "not to become accomplices," and on citizens to "take part in decisive but peaceful protests."
Podemos considers it "unacceptable to maintain diplomatic and sports relations with a state that violates international law, and whose delegation participates in European competitions at a time when it is bombing hospitals, blocking humanitarian aid and killing children in Gaza."
Therefore, the party demands that the organizers, including the Spanish Triathlon Federation and the Tenerife Island Council, suspend Israel's participation and adopt "ethical criteria" when approving delegations in future competitions.
"Sport should unite peoples, not be used to hide crimes. What Israel does with triathlon, cycling or Eurovision is not culture or competition, but manipulation. The Canary Islands must be on the side of life, not the occupier," Afonso concluded.