Israel Bars Gaza Palestinians From Bethlehem Marathon
Daoud Kuttab laments Israeli restrictions to prevent runners from Gaza from participating in a marathon in Bethlehem.
Sports has often been a national unifying factor. Palestine is no exception.
Palestinian sports has received public and community attention for some time, indeed, ever since the International Olympic committee allowed Palestinian athletes to participate in the Atlanta games in 1996. Majid Abu Maraheel, 32, a distance runner from Gaza and a father of five, was one of three Palestinians who had the honor of carrying the Palestinian flag for the first time in any Olympic meet. Maraheel, a member of the presidential security force, trained for years on the shores of the Mediterranean and thus qualified to run in long-distance races in Atlanta.
Abu Maraheel didn’t win any medals but became a sort of hero among Palestinians for breaking the Olympic ice and raising the Palestinian flag in the United States.
Palestinian runners have not received much attention since. But the recent tragedy in Boston provided Palestinians with a way of showing solidarity with Americans through athletics. A Palestinian marathon official has said that athletes will hold a candlelight vigil Saturday on the eve of their marathon in a public show of condemnation of the bombing at the Boston marathon. Among the 250 Palestinian and international athletes are a number of runners coming from the Boston race.
