Netherlands' rider of team Sunweb Tom Dumoulin rides during the 1st stage of the 101st Giro d'Italia, Tour of Italy, on May 4, 2018, a 9,7 kilometers individual time-trial in Jerusalem. (AFP photo)
RAMALLAH, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Dozens of Palestinian bikers gathered up and cycled towards Israeli military's Qalandia checkpoint north of Jerusalem in protest of the international Giro d'Italia bike race that kicked off in Jerusalem Friday.
They stood there and raised Palestinian flag to send a message that holding this international event in East Jerusalem is a "disregard of Palestinians rights and whitewashes its crimes against Palestinians," according to participants.
Malak Hasan, one of the cyclers who organized the protest event said the groups cycled for 5 km up to Qalandia village, which is cut off from surrounding areas by the separation wall and has recently seen wide house demolitions by Israeli authorities.
Israel seized the West Bank during the 1967 war and later annexed East Jerusalem in a move never recognized by the international community.
Palestinians demand the establishment of their own independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital based on the 1967 borders.
Palestinian Foreign Affairs Ministry slammed on Thursday organizing the sports event in East Jerusalem, considering it "a breach of international law."
The foreign ministry statement also said "it looks with utmost concern at the Israeli flagrant exploitation of the race in order to promote its colonial narrative about the holy city and the occupied Palestinian territories."
It also warned that it would maintain "its right to legally prosecute" those behind it who "claimed that the race will not cross through occupied territory."
Netherlands' rider of team Sunweb Tom Dumoulin rides during the 1st stage of the 101st Giro d'Italia, Tour of Italy, on May 4, 2018, a 9,7 kilometers individual time-trial in Jerusalem. (AFP photo)
This is the first time Giro d'Italia is held outside Europe, since its launch in 1909. It is one of the most prestigious road cycling race worldwide and 176 riders have participated in 22 teams, this year.
This year, the first three stages of the 21-day race are going to be held in Israel where its end stage will be in Rome after bikers cycle for a total of 3,546.2 km.
The international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign said in a statement earlier that holding this race in East Jerusalem is considered "collusion with the Israeli right wing government's attempt to consolidate its illegal control over the city."
The statement said their protest is part of anti-apartheid week activities that seeks to highlight the Palestinian and Arab identity of Jerusalem in light of the silence of the international bikers union.
It added that Israel paid around 10 million euros (11.9 million U.S. dollars) for the event organization, accusing Israel of attempting to conceal "its military occupation and apartheid system over the past decades."
The Giro d'Italia 2018 organizers mentioned on their website that the race would start from Jerusalem, without specifying that the starting point is a location from East Jerusalem.
The Palestinian Deputy Governor Abdallah Siam said the failure of the organizers to mention that the race in fact starts in East Jerusalem is considered as their "consent of Israel's unlawful annexation of East Jerusalem."
Siam said in an interview with Xinhua that the race is of political nature and slammed the participation of Bahraini team.
Meanwhile, member of Palestinian National Council Issam Baker told Xinhua that holding this race in East Jerusalem "represents a denial of the status of Jerusalem as an occupied city and a capital of the future Palestinian state."
On their behalf, organizers of the Palestinian protest bike race said that "Giro d'Italia lost the value of solidarity among peoples and risked its sports reputation and became supporters of the oppression of the peoples and of colonization and occupation in return for financial aid."