On Thursday, 6 July in Capvern, France, in the Hautes-Pyrénées region, around 20 members and supporters of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra and the Collectif 65 for the release of Georges Abdallah came together for the sixth stage of the Tour de France. As in all past years where the team was present, the demonstrators were present to denounce the participation of the “Israel Premier Tech” team, which openly boasts of its political role in laundering Israeli war crimes through sport.
🇵🇸 En direct du Tour de France à Capvern, le Collectif Palestine Vaincra et différentes organisations solidaires sont mobilisés pour dénoncer la présence de l'équipe Israël Premier Tech et exiger la libération immédiate de Georges Abdallah !#TDF2023 #FreeGeorgesAbdallah pic.twitter.com/tNgMsIxZVx
— Collectif Palestine Vaincra (@Collectif_PV) July 6, 2023
The Collectif Palestine Vaincra — a member organization of the Samidoun Network — and comrades from the Collectif 65 raised a massive banner visible to the audience and the cyclists: “Israel out of the Tour de France!”
They also carried banners calling for the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea and for freedom for Georges Abdallah, the Lebanese communist and struggler for Palestine jailed in France since 1984 and denied release following political decisions by multiple French governments. The mobilization for Abdallah, one of the longest-held political prisoners in Europe was particulatly important, as French president Emmanuel Macron had announced his presence for this stage of the Tour de France.
As the caravan of advertising subscribers passed by, several people working for different sponsors of the Tour expressed their support for Palestine over the mic, having seen the many Palestinian flags waving by the roadside!
As they passed by, the activists booed the cars of the Israel Premier Tech team as well as those of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, which are fully engaged in normalization to the extent of serving as soft power tools in the service of colonialism,
When the main peloton of cyclists arrived, the activists loudly chanted “Boycott Israel!” in order to emphasize the commitment to expose this scandalous political operation which aims to instrumentalize support in the service of the project of settler colonialism and apartheid. This mobilization is all the more necessary as the Zionist state escalates its colonial violence throughout Palestine, as illustrated by the recent deadly attack on Jenin, which was successfully repelled by the Palestinian resistance.
🚴 Jeudi 6 juillet à Capvern, mobilisation pour dénoncer la présence de l’équipe Israël Premier Tech au Tour de France qui se revendique “ambassadrice autoproclamée” de l’apartheid israélien.#TDF2023 #IsraelApartheidTech pic.twitter.com/4UKt0yloBC
— Collectif Palestine Vaincra (@Collectif_PV) July 6, 2023
As part of the same campaign, supporters of justice in Palestine mobilized near the village of Lasseube in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques this Wednesday, July 5 during the fifth stage of the Tour. They displayed Palestinian and Galician flags together, expressing their internationalist commitment.
Solidariedade co pobo palestino no #TourdeFrance.@galizapalestina @ana pic.twitter.com/ILQYX5Mq26
— BNG Francia (@BNGfrancia) July 5, 2023
The success of these new actions underlines the importance of mobilizing during the various stages of the Tour de France in order to intensify our campaigns to boycott and isolate the occupation regime, in support of the Palestinian resistance fighting for liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea. Throughout the route of the Tour de France, let’s fly the flag of Palestine and confront Zionism on the roads of the biggest cycling race in the world!
