Big Ride for Palestine SA

‎For members who may wish to link with our WhatsApp group to get the latest information about rides, the link is below.

chat.whatsapp.com

On a more postive note: here is a film worth a look on 26 June

Come along and see this film at the first time Adelaide Refugee Film Festival. About life in Palestine facing a young woman there, it's an amazing watch. All promotions welcomed. Supporting Health Care Workers for Palestine Adelaide, book now. By Circle of Friends Australia Inc. a 100% volunteer refugee support group in SA. Thank you. Nathan Rogers. 0458 768 643.

Adelaide Refugee Film Festival - 2026 Step into powerful stories from around the world at the Adelaide Refugee Film Festival — a moving and eye-opening celebration of cinema that shines...

Followers on this page would be aware of our jersey style and that the Big Ride for Palestine SA have been experiencing some difficulties getting a new Winter Jersey to manufacture.

Here is the reason why. It's not too long a read.

Pedalling Into Censorship: How an Australian Manufacturer Cancelled a Peace Ride

There is something quietly absurd about a cycling jersey becoming a flashpoint for corporate cowardice. Yet that is precisely what happened when an Australian sportswear manufacturer, refused to produce a winter, long sleeved jersey for the Big Ride of Palestine SA — a community cycling group raising awareness for peace in one of the world’s most devastating conflicts.

The design was, by any reasonable measure, unremarkable in its content. It featured the Palestinian flag, the name of the ride, the logo of the Australian Friends of Palestine Association, and sponsorship acknowledgements from five trade unions. The words “Free Palestine” appeared on the fabric. There was no mention of Israel. No mention of Zionism. No mention of Judaism. Just a flag, a slogan, and a group of cyclists who wanted to wear their values on their sleeves — literally.

The sportswear manufacturer apparently found this intolerable.
The group didn’t receive a prompt or principled refusal. Instead, they were met with silence. Weeks passed after the design was finalised with the assistance of their own staff but with no confirmation of manufacturing details or payment arrangements. It was only when the group followed up — chasing what should have been routine administrative steps — that the sportswear manufacturer’s position became a little clearer. The manufacturer cited “difficulty with the branding on a “politically biased item” and walked back from the agreement/contract.

Let’s sit with that for a moment. A Palestinian flag — the official symbol of a state recognised by the United Nations and over 140 countries worldwide — is apparently too politically charged for an Australian sportswear company to print on Lycra. One wonders how the sportswear manufacturer feels about the many national flags that routinely appear on sporting apparel without a second thought.

The irony, of course, is that in attempting to avoid political controversy, the sportswear company made an emphatically political decision. Refusing to manufacture a jersey because its message advocates for peace is not neutrality — it is a stance. It says, in effect, that some causes are acceptable to display on a cycling jersey and others are not. That some flags are welcome and others are not. That is discrimination, dressed up as corporate caution presumably. It may represent something else but the decision was not explained to us. Until much later.
The design complied fully with Australian law. It was not defamatory. It was not racist. It targeted no individual, no ethnicity, no religion. It was, at its core, a group of people wanting to go for a bike ride and say something about human suffering while they did it.

The Big Ride for Palestine SA is not a radical organisation. It is affiliated with the Australian Friends of Palestine Association and backed by five trade unions — organisations with deep roots in Australian civil society, organisations that have long stood for the rights of working people and the dignity of those without power, anywhere and everywhere. The riders are not agitators. They are cyclists. They are nurses, teachers, tradies and retirees who believe that a ride through South Australian landscapes might, in some small way, draw attention to a people enduring immense hardship.
The sportwear manufacturer’s decision to pull out of the contract/agreement at the last minute — after the design process was complete — left the group scrambling and literally cold. It also sent a message: that even the most benign expression of solidarity can be silenced if a corporation decides the optics are inconvenient.
Australia has a proud tradition of sporting protest. From Peter Norman standing on the 1968 Olympic podium to the long campaign for Indigenous recognition in sport, Australians have understood that the playing field — and the road — can be a place of conscience. The sportswear manufacturer’s decision sits poorly against that tradition.

Big Ride for Palestine SA felt that this turn around was another small and insidious step in the suppression of free expression of public debate which sits alongside the Minn’s NSW Government anti demonstration legislation, that has thankfully been rebuffed by the Supreme Court, and the Crisafulli Queensland Government crackdown and arrests for publicly uttering the rally cry of ‘From the River to the Sea.’ A laughable act of populism if it weren’t so dangerous. We had to speak up.

The Big Ride for Palestine SA will find another manufacturer. The jerseys will be made. The riders will ride. We will be warm. But the episode deserves to be remembered — not as a story about cycling apparel, but as a small and telling example of how the suppression of legitimate political expression works in practice. Not through law. Not through force. But through a quiet phone call, a vague excuse, and a contract left unsigned.
That, too, is a political act.

Post scriptum.
When the Big Ride for Palestine SA approached the Australian sportswear manufacturer during the writing of this article, to offer them an opportunity to respond prior to going to print, the tone changed. Completely. In their view it had been a misunderstanding and that the Big Ride for Palestine had failed to grasp that the manufacturer had been referring to the presence of “their brand” on the cycling jersey and not the Palestinian messaging. We pointed out that this had never been raised with us directly during the design and premanufacturing process. We also pointed out that after a thorough search, the manufacturer’s brand was detected on the inside of the jersey collar and hence, never visible in public. Unless of course it was washed and hung up inside out, to dry. They were caught out in a fabrication on the run. We asked whether they were prepared to proceed with the manufacture of the jerseys if their branding was omitted, they declined petulantly. You may draw your own conclusions.

Although many of you would be interested in the name of the manufacturer, The Big Ride for Palestine SA decided that omitting the name from this article was the only option to prevent a potential defamation action against us. We had been squeezed to the side of the road by some clever corporate clog dancing but the moral victory was ours.

Let us know what you think, in the comments below.

Sunday. In June. Sunny and windless. Raising much needed donations for Palestinian children’s charity, bike riding and coffee with like minded riders. Not much more to like. Join us next time if you can.

We have supported the Gaza Sunbirds on a number of our rides this year.

Here is an inspirational Gaza Sunbird supporter from the Northern Hemisphere.

At 84 years old, Anne M. Jones cycled Alpe d’Huez for Palestine. Our team took on the mountain’s 21 turns with Anne to help raise £21,000 in aid of Gaza. Donate through the link in bio. “Hope is a discipline and despair is a luxury.” - Anne M. Jones #ride #cycling #alpes #community #palestine

Our Spring-Summer-Autumn rides program has now concluded. Thanks to everyone who participated and helped to make the riding and the socialising enjoyable. The rides were completely without any unpleasant incidents and we felt welcome at all of the cafes we frequented. We were fortunate with the weather, with only a couple of cancellations, but for winter we will operate on a week-by-week basis. If the Sunday weather forecast is looking OK, we will advertise a ride on WhatsApp on Friday and confirm or cancel at 7.30am on Sunday morning. We will repeat some of the rides we are familiar with but also explore some new routes and try some longer rides, so stay tuned, keep fit over winter and continue to support the Palestinian people.

Some interesting observations on the the use of the phrase “From the River to the Sea” and how evidently it is only a problem when Palestinians and their supporters use it.

For those who might be interested in the esoteric, the Constitutional Clarion (https://youtu.be/WK8ZluRFxNw) may provide entertainment and material for wisdom.

BTW when she mentions the ‘river phrase’ is used by an Israeli political party (at about the 11 minute mark), she’s talking about the Likud Party.

The slogan "From the river to the sea" has been associated with the Likud party in Israel since at least 1977.

The party's original platform explicitly stated: "Between the Sea and the Jordan there will only be Israeli sovereignty." This phrase reflects the Likud party's long-standing ideological commitment to maintaining Israeli control over all the land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, which includes the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) and Gaza.

The Likud platform also asserted that "Judea and Samaria will not be handed to any foreign administration," emphasizing the party's opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state in these areas and its support for Jewish settlement throughout the region.

Prohibiting political chants and slogans This video discusses a proposal in the Australian State of New South Wales to prohibit the use of certain political chants and slogans.The video discusses th...