Israel bars Gaza athletes from taking part in West Bank marathon
Israeli has barred over 100 Palestinian athletes from the besieged Gaza Strip to participate in the fourth annual Palestine Marathon in Bethlehem, in the West Bank, by refusing to issue them permits to exit the Palestinian enclave.
The Israeli measure was harshly slammed on Friday by the marathon’s organizer, I’tidal Abdul-Ghani, as “a blatant violation of all international laws and norms pertaining to athletes’ freedom of movement.”
Among the 103 athletes who were prevented to take part in the contest was star runner Nader Masri, who represented Palestine at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
Others on the banned list were members of the campaign group Right to Movement and Right to Play — the organizing body behind the event, as well as members of the Palestine Olympic Committee.
The symbolic event is a 42km (26-mile) run organized every year to protest the restrictions of movement imposed by the Tel Aviv regime on Palestinians across the occupied territories.
The marathon begins at the Church of the Nativity in the old city area of Bethlehem and runs the length of the city, as well as past two Palestinian refugee camps and along the Israeli-built separation wall also known as the apartheid wall.
Thousands of Palestinians and foreigners took part in the event, according to local press outlets, which noted that it was the third time the Israeli regime barred Gaza runners from participating in the marathon.
Meanwhile, the UN’s coordinator for humanitarian aid Robert Piper was quoted in local media as saying, “As many of us join this celebratory event, we remain acutely aware of the many barriers to freedom of movement faced by Palestinians every day.”
The statement highlighted the extensive movement restrictions imposed on Palestinians, which it said “permeate almost all facets of everyday life and continue to separate Palestinians and fragment the territory.”
It further pointed to the Israeli regime’s separation wall, checkpoints, roadblocks, as well as its use of travel permits and shutdown of entire areas, while also blasting the crippling eight-year blockade of the densely-populated Gaza by Israel.
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