– PODEMOS
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SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE 18 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Podemos Canarias has called for the suspension of the match scheduled for 14 October between CB Canarias-La Laguna Tenerife and the Israeli club Bnei Herzliya. They argue that the club’s presence “normalises complicity with a genocidal state.”
The party has requested that the Ayuntamiento of La Laguna, the Cabildo of Tenerife, and FIBA act “in accordance with International Law and the public outcry for Palestine.”
The upcoming match has raised concerns among social sectors, who assert that allowing a club from the State of Israel to compete effectively “whitewashes systematic human rights violations.”
The Bnei Herzliya team belongs to the Israeli Premier League, “a network intricately linked to the state’s propaganda machinery and military sponsorship. This is occurring in the context of an offensive on Gaza that has caused over 65,000 deaths since October 2023,” Podemos noted in a statement.
The party also reminds us that, similar to the Israel-Premier Tech cycling team, permitting Bnei Herzliya’s participation “is not neutrality; it is turning a blind eye while crimes against humanity are committed.”
In this regard, they criticise the “inconsistency” of Canary institutions, which, on one hand, approve symbolic resolutions in support of the Palestinian people while, on the other, allow sporting events that serve as “international image laundering for the Netanyahu government.”
“In 2022, all Russian clubs were banned from European competitions due to the invasion of Ukraine. Why is the same criterion not applied to the State of Israel, which has been devastating Gaza with complete impunity for a year?” questions Noemí Santana, spokesperson for Podemos Canarias. She urges sports and political authorities not to use double standards when it comes to war crimes and reminds them of the call to the IOC to expel Israel from all sporting competitions.
