PALESTINE MARATHON 2014: RIGHT TO MOVEMENT

West Bank, 26 Rabi’ul Akhir 1435/26 February 2014 (MINA) – Welfare Association (WA) has issued a press release annoucing the 2014 Palestine Marathon: Right to Movement, taking place April 11th 2014. 

 

WA stated: “Everyone has the right to freedom of movement, but not everyone has the option. Restriction on movement is one of the major challenges for Palestinians living under the Israeli occupation since 1948. Palestinians cannot move freely on roads, let alone, from one village to another.

 

Access to one’s own home, work, land, hospitals, schools, relatives and friends is a daily challenge. The movement of 4 Million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza is restricted by more than 500 Israeli checkpoints and physical road obstructions, the Separation Wall sneaking throughout the West Bank and surrounding Gaza as well as by the establishment of more than 144 illegal settlements on Palestinian land.

 

In partnership with the Palestine Olympic Committee, we aim to carry out a world standard Palestinian Marathon on the 11 of April 2014, seeking to tell the world our Story… the story of the Palestinians who seek freedom, according to Palestine News Network (PNN) monitored by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA).

 

More than 3,000 runners will take part in the event of whom a thousand are joining the Marathon from more than 40 countries. Despite of the disconnected demographic reality, supporters and runners will witness the meadows and mountains of Palestine full of olive, almond and citrus trees, covered with yellow, purple and red “Hanouneh” flowers, and will experience the rich Palestinian culture, with its warm welcoming people.

 

The Marathon will take place in the biblical City of Bethlehem, starting from the Church of Nativity, along the Separation Wall, through Palestinian refugee camps with a turnaround point at an Israeli checkpoint defying the constraint on freedom to move.”

 

Welfare Association is a supporter of the Palestine Marathon, targeting to raise $55,000 by end of March 2014. (T/P015/P04/E01)