Election posters, mass tourism and property: Israel’s footprint in Cyprus
Cypriots say Israeli money is moving fast and shutting them out as their government embraces Israel as a key ally.
Various locations, Cyprus – This summer in Cyprus, on a road near Larnaca airport, a billboard greeted holidaymakers in Hebrew: “Israelis, enjoy! Now come back and win!”
It was an election poster in the Cypriot city for Israel’s October 27 vote featuring Israel’s former army chief and leader of the opposition Yashar Party, Gadi Eisenkot.
The poster of Eisenkot, believed to be the first time a foreign politician had campaigned on billboards in Cyprus, signalled the growing number of Israelis living on and visiting the island, TV presenter and pro-Palestine activist Melanie Steliou told Al Jazeera.
Politicians, estate agents, academics and residents in Cyprus use the phrase to describe clusters of Israeli-owned properties they see as closed off from the wider community.