Description
What can sport tell us about contemporary Palestinian-Israeli relations? This research uses sport as a lens to analyse the politics of Palestine-Israel after the end of the Oslo era. As hopes of meaningful negotiations waned, the two parties have engaged in a struggle over what this research defines as the ‘normalisation of the status quo’. Israel has used high profile sport events to project the image of a modern and ‘normal’ country, one where the issues of the occupation and the relations with the Palestinians had been solved. Sport events on the other hand have provided a catalyst for Palestinians to contest the occupation. By looking at the case of the Giro d’Italia and of the football friendly match between Israel and Argentina, this research will use sport to provide a new understanding of the dynamics of Israeli-Palestinian relations.
