حيث يمكنك أن تجد سببا آخر لتقع في حب فلسطين - جمالها
where you can find another reason to fall in love with Palestine - it’s beauty !
Under the banner of “Right to Movement”, 500 Palestinian and international athletes completed in the inaugural Palestine Marathonthrough the streets of Bethlehem, April 22, 2013. Article 13 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “Everyone has the right of freedom movement and residence within the border of each state.” Here, runners pass the Israeli separation wall on Hebron Road, once the main road from Jerusalem in the north through Bethlehem to Hebron in the south, now blocked by the wall surrounding Rachel’s Tomb and an Israeli military base .(Photos by Ryan Rodrick Beiler)
Palestine Marathon Holds Message to the World : Some of the participants were wearing T-shirts commemorating the victims of the Boston marathon bombing, others wearing clothing branded with the event’s slogan: “Right to Movement.”
In an atmosphere of joy and happiness, the issue of prisoners was not forgotten, as banners were raised for the Palestinian hunger striking prisoner Samer al-Issawi.
It’s worth mentioning that due to the challenge of finding a continuous 42.2km full marathon course, the marathon was a two-loop course. The 26 competitors who ran the full race were required to make two loops of the city along a course that passed through two refugee camps, alongside the Israeli separation wall, turned back on itself at a checkpoint and finished back at the Church of the Nativity.
A soccer match in the Palestinian quarter of Bab al-Zahirah (Herod’s Gate), outside the Old City walls to the northeast - perhaps the earliest photograph of a sports event in Jerusalem. Note the Muslim tomb in the foreground, extreme right.(from Institute for Palestine Studies, Photograph Collection/ 1876-1918) .
A Palestinian boy carries the national flag as he makes his way through the debris of the destroyed Palestine Sports Stadium in Gaza City on November 22, 2012, after a ceasefire took hold in and around Gaza after a week of cross-border violence between Israel and Palestinian militants that killed at least 160 people. AFP PHOTO/MAHMUD HAMS
Wheelchair-bound Palestinians take part in a one-kilometer race for people with physical disabilities in Gaza City November 8, 2012. The race was organized by a local club in coordination with the Palestinian Paralympic Committee. REUTERS/Ahmed Zakot .
Members of Palestinian contingent take part in the athletes parade during the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic Stadium.Five Palestinian athletes are participating in this year’s games.July 27, 2012/photos by REUTERS,Huffington Post and Palsport News Agency.
Palestinian soccer player Mahmoud Al-Sarsak was released from Israeli custody after 96 day hunger strike. He agreed to end it on June 18 in return for his release on July 10, 2012.(x)
Meanwhile , Two Palestinian Prisoners at Risk of Death :Akram al-Rikhawi who entered 92 days of hunger strike and is at risk of death due to his dangerous health condition and Samir al-Barq who entered his 49th day of hunger strike; protesting against his administrative detention. (Read about it more in Addmeer report )(caricature by Carlos Latuff)
Palestinian soccer player Mahmoud Al-Sarsak is greeted upon his arrival in Gaza City July 10, 2012. Israel released the Gaza soccer player on Tuesday in a deal to end his intermittent four-month hunger strike after he spent three years behind bars without being put on trial, officials said. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem
Playing footaball in support of national team footballerMahmoud al-Sarsak whose on hunger strike since 19 March 2012 outside Ofer prison ,Jun. 11, 2012(Photo by Wafa)
Our brother and son, Mahmoud Sarsak, is a 25 years old professional footballer from Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, today entering his 67th day of hunger strike. We ask you to support Mahmoud and his demand for fair treatment. Your voice can contribute to saving his life and to a little victory against injustice.
Mahmoud has been imprisoned by Israel for the past three years, after being arrested by the Israeli military on 22nd July 2009 at the Erez checkpoint in Gaza while on his way to join the Palestine National Football team for a match in Balata refugee camp in the West Bank.
After his arrest he was transferred to Ashkelon prison where he was interrogated for 30 days, before being given a detention order on 23rd August 2009 under Israel’s “Unlawful Combatants Law”. Addameer, the Prisoners’ Support and Human Rights group, state that “in practice, the Unlawful Combatants Law contains fewer protections for detainees than even the few that are granted under administrative detention orders in the West Bank”, and allows the Israeli state to hold Palestinians from Gaza for indefinite periods without charge or trial.
Mahmoud started a hunger strike on 19th March 2012 to protest being held without charge or trial, demanding to be informed of the reasons for his three year detention and to be allowed to defend himself, as is his most basic right under international law. After starting his hunger strike he was transferred to Naqab prison on 8th April and then moved to solitary confinement at Eshel prison. On 16th April he was transferred to Ramleh prison hospital as a result of his deteriorating health. He is now on his 67 day of hunger strike, an extremely dangerous milestone that could see his death at any moment.
He is one of over 4400 Palestinians held in Israeli jails in violation of Articles 49 and 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which forbids the transfer of occupied peoples (Palestinians), to the territory of the occupier (Israel). Grave breaches of these Articles are considered war crimes in international law.
For us it is unbearable to see Israel has been awarded the hosting of the UEFA Under 21s football championship in 2013 and gears up to participate in the London Olympics, while it routinely arrests, tortures, imprisons and kills Palestinians, including football players, without consequence. This is not fair play. Sports should show solidarity.
As Mahmoud’s family, we call on all people of conscience to demand his immediate release, and to pressure governments and international organisations to force Israel’s compliance with the most basic standards of international law. In particular we ask fellow football players and athletes to speak out in support of Mahmoud – don’t be silent when Israeli cruelty and arbitrariness has destroyed the aspirations of a rising athlete and keeps thousands under inhumane conditions in their jails. We ask sports teams and anti-racist fan clubs to organize in support of Mahmoud and all the other Palestinian political prisoners. Your voice can contribute to saving his life and to a little victory against injustice.
It is time to end Israeli crimes carried out with impunity, and to demand the release of all Palestinians held illegally by Israel, including the other Palestinian prisoners who, along with our beloved Mahmoud, are hunger striking for their dignity and freedom.
( Sat . April 14 )Palestinians with ISM activists Banned Today From Completing their Cycling Tour, Bikers banned from using Route 90, An Israeli Controlled highway connects Palestinian villages and used by Jewish settles.IOF Attacks the Bikers Injuring 3, Bikers forced to move by Buses instead of bikes to reach their Destination … (All Rights Reserved FADI AROURI.)
Palestinian kids run in a marathon as a response to the israeli one that was held in Jerusalem .
The route went through the settlement of Pisgat Ze’ev in occupied East Jerusalem, to the background view of the illegal apartheid and annexation wall, and circling the Hebrew University, which is built on land belonging to the East Jerusalem neighborhood Issawiyah - this marathon boasts of the Israeli illegal control and occupation of the oppressed indigenous Palestinian population of East Jerusalem.(x)
Gazan runner Bahaa al-Farra, left, and Majad Abu Maraheel, the first Palestinian to compete at the Olympics. Photograph: Mohammed Salem/Reuters
