Last Friday saw 3,000 runners take part in the third annual Palestine Marathon, organised by Right to Movement. Among those running were a number of our fantastic supporters, as well as two members of MAP staff: James Denselow, our London-based Director of Media & Campaigns, and Mohamed Askari, Programme Assistant in our Gaza office. After the race, we caught up with Mohamed to ask him about the experience:
MAP's James Denselow (left) and Mohamed Askari (right) before the race.
“The right of movement is not only our right as Palestinians, it’s the right of all humanity."
Mohamed’s motivation for running this year echo the very issues Right to Movement seek to highlight: “I chose to run because I live in Gaza under siege. I’m surrounded by walls all the time, and as a Palestinian I need to get permission to move to anywhere.”
Indeed the winner of this year’s men’s race, Nader Al-Masri, was refused permission to travel the fifty kilometres from Gaza to Bethlehem for the 2014 marathon. “In the beginning I was afraid that I wouldn’t get permission to travel to Bethlehem for the marathon” says Mohamed, “but I prepared anyway by walking every day and running from time to time. I didn't want to come first, but I wanted to join the runners to express my feelings about my rights of movement.”
The Separation Wall near the starting line
The marathon course took runners past two refugee camps (al-Ayda and al-Dheisheh), and along the towering ‘Separation Barrier’ wall which divides the West Bank from Israel.This year’s race was held in somewhat of a heatwave, but that didn’t deter Mohamed.“It was difficult because the weather was so hot,” he says, “but I ran the 21km half-marathon anyway. All I thought about while I ran was wanting to finish the race.”
MAP supporters Morgan and Jay at the Marathon
“I felt so good while everyone was cheering for me as I crossed the finish line,” says Mohamed, and he would definitely encourage others to take part in 2016: “The right of movement is not only our right as Palestinians, it’s the right of all humanity. I’ll be one of the first to sign up next year, and will encourage all my friends to do it so they can feel as good as I did on the day.”
If you would like to follow Mohamed’s example and run for MAP, or help us fundraise in any other way, check out some of the ideas on our fundraising page as well as our upcoming events.