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Jewish and Arab Youth Run Jerusalem Marathon Together

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The Sixth International Jerusalem Marathon, one of Israel’s largest with some 30,000 participants from 65 countries, was held on Friday, March 18. (Photo Credit: Hillel Maier)

The Sixth International Jerusalem Marathon, one of Israel’s largest with some 30,000 participants from 65 countries, was held on Friday, March 18. Kenyan Kipkogey Shadrack won the men’s race with a time of 2:16:33, and fellow Kenyan Joan Jepchir beat out all other women with 2:38:30.

Back in the pack, another group was also catching its stride: a unique team of Jewish and Arab runners in a display of coexistence.

Runners Without Borders is a joint Jewish-Arab running group consisting of approximately 70 runners, many of them teenagers. Most runners are from the Jerusalem area, and there are generally more Arab participants than Jews.

The group includes two separate running teams: one for boys, the other for girls. The girls’ group was founded by 18-year-old Shoshana Ben-David just before the start of Operation Protective Edge in Gaza in the summer of 2014. The boys’ team was founded around the same time by Israel Haas, 36, a business manager from Jerusalem.

“It’s natural for us to participate in the main running event of the year since we train in Jerusalem,” Haas told Tazpit Press Service (TPS). “It’s symbolic because this is the first Arab-Jewish team to run and compete in the Jerusalem Marathon. I want to emphasize the word ‘compete’ because we are running to win.”

The event included several competitive courses: a full marathon (42km), a half-marathon (21km) and a 10km race. Other non-competitive courses included a 5km race, a family fun run (1.7km), and an 800m community race.

Haas said that approximately 40 out of the group’s members competed in the marathon this year. However, he also described difficulties the group has been facing due to the tense political atmosphere.

“We hardly manage to recruit Jewish boys,” Haas told TPS, “because of the situation and all the fear. I can’t blame them, maybe I would be afraid like them. You can see the complexity of the situation.”

According to Haas, this is the first time that Arabs from eastern Jerusalem, most of whom do not have Israeli citizenship, have run in the marathon.

“Until there is a solution to the [political] situation, they just want to live their lives and take part in what the city offers them,” explained Haas. “They want to be treated as equal citizens of the city of Jerusalem.”

Michael Bachner (TPS)

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