Wellington - Israeli tennis player Shahar Peer, 22, was
subject to a small but noisy protest over her country's invasion of
Gaza when she played a quarter-final match at the ASB Classic
tournament in Auckland on Thursday.
About 20 protestors waving anti-Israel placards yelled slogans
outside the stadium's main entrance opposed by a lone Israeli
demonstrator with a sign saying, 'Hamas murders hope.'
Security was tight and the demonstrators moved on before the start
of Peer's match, which she lost to number one seed Elena Dementieva
of Russia in 63 minutes.
Peer, who earlier rejected calls to withdraw from the tournament,
said later, 'I am not the government of Israel and I not representing
Israel in politics. I am a tennis player and that's what I represent
now.'
Protest organizer John Minto, who led a campaign against New
Zealand's sporting contacts with apartheid South Africa in the 1970s,
said the demonstration would make New Zealanders think more deeply
about what their country could do to support the Palestinian
struggle.
Minto called Wednesday for a shoe-waving protest against Peer's
participation in the tournament but this did not happen.
Peer, who was making her third appearance at the Auckland
tournament, said she had never been targeted by protestors anywhere
before.
USA
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