I’m not sure what I think of this. Protesting the mere presence of an Israeli tennis player (as happened in New Zealand last week) is curious. Israel player Shahar Peer is playing at the Australian Open in Melbourne. From the Melbourne Age:
The planned protest has sparked irate emails to the website of Australians for Palestine, has been condemned by Jewish groups in Melbourne and has been widely reported in Israel.
As part of the protest, Australians for Palestine has pasted a poster around Melbourne that shows Ms Peer, who did Israel’s compulsory national service, in a military uniform while a picture of a distressed child from Gaza is superimposed on her tennis racquet.
Highlighting Israel’s shocking human rights record is important but is the aim now to target anybody from Israel who doesn’t come out publicly and challenge the state’s crimes?
A discussion worth having.