Global protests demanding an end to Israel's Gaza offensive are putting pressure on music, sports, and technology events. What real impact can they have?

Protests against Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip, and those sponsoring it, have been increasing in frequency and number of participants in recent months.

The latest major demonstration was the cries of thousands of protesters demonstrating against the "Zionist genocide" in Gaza and the participation of the Israel PT team in the race last Sunday in Madrid during the final stage of the Vuelta a España, which forced a premature end to the stage.

Spanish authorities estimate at 100,000 protesters waving Palestinian flags against the presence of the Israel-Premier Tech team, owned by Sylvan Adams, a close ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

This is not the first time that a cycling race has been the scene of protests.

In May, during the Giro d'Italia, protesters stretched out a rope shortly before the finish of stage 15 in Naples. And in July, a man wearing a T-shirt reading "Israel out of the Tour" disrupted the finish of stage 11 of the Tour de France in Toulouse.

However, these were isolated incidents, far from the massive demonstrations in Spain, a country where the Palestinian cause has numerous supporters and is supported by Pedro Sánchez's government.

Experts agree that these demonstrations represent the frustration of global citizens over the inaction of governments and international organizations in the face of the Israeli retaliation campaign, which has already left more than 65,000 dead in Gaza, most of them civilians.

"The international community has woken up," Alex Montero, political advisor at the Palestinian Embassy in Colombia, told EL TIEMPO.

People "have become aware of Israeli atrocities and their disregard for international law and human dignity. It would have been logical for states to take action, but since this hasn't happened, citizens have taken on this critical role ," Montero concludes.

For the most part, the protests have been peaceful, albeit with a strong message. Others, such as those held in 2024 on US university campuses and this year's protests in the United Kingdom by the Palestine Action group—recently declared illegal by the government—turned violent and resulted in hundreds of arrests.

"When citizens perceive that institutions are inactive or insufficient, demonstrations or boycotts become a way to morally demand a response and push for change ," Margarita Cadavid, a professor at the Universidad del Rosario, told this newspaper.

Regarding recent events in the Vuelta a España, Cadavid highlights two outcomes: clear opposition to the participation of an Israeli group in high-level competitions and the economic consequences generated by the magnitude of this event.

Boycotts result in the cancellation of contracts, commercial events, or the loss of sponsorship, which, by generating losses, attract attention.

On the other hand, protests shape the public agenda and that generates changes in discourse .

"A few months ago, we were discussing whether to speak of genocide or war crimes. Today, the former is already being discussed, and there's pressure to investigate it," Cadavid notes.

Global citizenship "is transforming to demand compliance with justice , law, the value of international organizations, and, above all, it demands coexistence and civility," says Montero.

Regarding the scope of the protests, Cadavid recalls that "the power of the citizenry isn't immediate. Sometimes it only achieves a change in the narrative."

The suspension of the final round of the Vuelta a España is an unusual event that could set a precedent for altering other competitions or events in the future where Israel participates.

The next Eurovision Song Contest is already on the table, a competition in which Israel has participated since 1973 despite not being geographically in Europe.

In this regard, Spain has conditioned its presence at next year's festival on Israel's participation. Ireland, Slovenia, Iceland, and the Netherlands have also announced their possible withdrawal in protest.

Meanwhile, the Flanders Festival in Ghent, Belgium, canceled a Munich Philharmonic concert scheduled to be conducted by Israeli Lahav Shani, sparking a storm in Germany.

In Barcelona , ​​the left-wing group Comuns (Commons), which held the mayor's office from 2015 to 2023, called on the Catalan government and Barcelona City Council to ask the organizer of the Mobile World Congress (MWC), one of the world's most important events in its sector, to exclude Israel from the 2026 edition of the event in the Catalan capital.

Regarding the question of whether Israel would be excluded from the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics, Swiss Chrostophe Dubi, the event's executive director, confirmed last Wednesday that he will maintain his delegation because it "respects the Olympic Charter," the official document of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that enshrines the fundamental principles of Olympism.

"Israel respects the Olympic Charter," Dubi declared, with less than 150 days to go until the start of the Olympic competition.

"The case is different from that of Russia and Belarus. Israel and Palestine are special because we have two national Olympic committees, and both comply with the Olympic Charter. From a sporting perspective, for which we are responsible, they are two separate cases," he pointed out.

Following Sunday's demonstrations, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez expressed his "deep admiration for a Spanish civil society that is mobilizing against injustice" before Congress.

According to Sánchez, this sentiment is shared by the vast majority of citizens, regardless of how they vote: "It doesn't matter because they are advocating common sense, defending human rights and international law, which is being undermined by Israel."

Even before the protests in Madrid, Sánchez pointed to Spain as "an example and a source of pride for an international community" that sees it "taking a step forward in defending human rights" and condemning the "barbarism" in Gaza.

In this regard, Netanyahu asserted that Western European countries (without specifying which ones) were well-disposed toward Israel, "but have been overwhelmed by campaigns of violent protests and constant intimidation."

He added that this shift among Western European countries has fostered a "siege" orchestrated by countries like China and Qatar to "attack Israel."

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar also commented that rejecting his country's delegations amounts to "eliminating the State of Israel" through propaganda.

In response, the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Dana Erlich, the chargé d'affaires of the Israeli embassy in Madrid, to protest Saar's "unacceptable" words and positions.

The protest before the Israeli diplomatic representative follows the Ministry's decision to also recall the Spanish ambassador in Tel Aviv, Ana María Sálomon, for consultations.

Meanwhile, the International Cycling Union (UCI) lamented the Spanish government's support for the protests.

From Cadavid's perspective , it is necessary to distinguish between criticism of the policies of the State of Israel and hostility toward the Jewish people as a community.

"Governors and leaders should explicitly condemn antisemitism, but it's clearly not contrary to condemning the genocide that's taking place," he comments.

"These are demonstrations against a regime that ignores international law," Montero said.