Palestinian cyclists attacked in the West Bank after following Komoot route

Carlton Reid recently published a fascinating podcast interview with Julian Sayarer, who has written a book called 50 Miles Wide about cycling in that area.

https://www.the-spokesmen.com/cyclingpalestine/

If we wound back time to the 1990’s, would you accept a one sided article about the conflict in Ireland?
Would you accept “one perpetrator had a Catholic accent”?

Did you ever read the interview with the owner of Israel Start-Up Nation, Sylvan Adams in Cyclist magazine March20, citing he would love to recruit a Palestinian rider?
The print on their team jersey reads “PEACE AMBASSADOR”.

Alex, why don’t you make contact with Israel Start-Up Nation’s media people and get yourself invited for a ride out there, so you get the real facts.

Cycling should have no place for politics

The article doesn't quite tell the full story. Here's a bit they missed:

"A group of five or six Hebrew-speaking men approached them and asked where they were from. Kurdi said they were from the Palestinian city of Ramallah."

Another rider got off his bike and started dancing while shouting "Jehovah, Jehovah, Jehovah".

"The men reportedly started throwing stones at the cyclists, using T-shirts to hide their faces." They were defintitely NOT women.

Not really a failing of KOMOOT here - anyone who lives in Birzeit will be familiar with what a settlement looks like and where they are. 
 

I used Strava and a few other references to navigate the amazing Sugar Trail through Palestine, but I asked several local contacts about the security. Some colleagues warned against going alone, or without carrying a gun. Others said - it's fine. The start of the route was just outside a settlement, and I passed a few Palestinian huts on the way through. People were generally friendly to me, and a big guy at the end was waiting with a truck to shuttle me the 25km back up.

In the West Bank it probably helped that I'm clearly neither a settler, nor a Palestinian if approaching a settlement. Not sure I would repeat the journey right now - it's a bit more tense than when I was out in February. And too hot.

There is some fabulous road and gravel riding in the region, and a few bike hire places with decent road and MTB hire. 

Video of the journey here - the tarmac road at the start leads to an enclosed settlement. I went down the side past big warning signs telling me I was going down a track towards Palestinian villages.

https://youtu.be/yesZe4YwEII

Alex Bowden - You mention "Jewish" settlements in your opening paragraph and the piece then goes on to insinuate that it was people from these settlements who carried out the attack. Be careful mate, Jeremy Corbyn would have been hung drawn and quartered for that sort of remark !

Quote:

The attack was reported to Israeli police, who say they are investigating.

...but who will probably do even less than if it had been reported to (fill in your local police force)