By Nadrat Siddique
Special
to the New Trend
Washington,
DC
September
16, 2017
Under
beautiful sunny skies, hundreds of runners ran along the Anacostia Riverwalk
Trail. The heat rose to 78 degrees that morning, and some participants wore
tank tops, short sleeved tees, and shorts. But a large number wore kaffiyahs or
tee shirts bearing the Palestinian flag. Many of the female athletes wore
hijab. A few of the young men donned Palestinian flags, which flew behind them
in cape-like fashion. The run was the Gaza 5K, which is held annually in five
major U.S. cities, including Washington, DC. It is sponsored by the United
Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) USA, and raises funds for UNRWA’s Community
Mental Health Programme (CMHP) for Palestinian children in Gaza.
Why a 5K run for Gaza?
There
have been three major Israeli offensives against Gaza. Each had a devastating
impact, and illustrated Israel’s utter disregard for international law. During
the 2014 offensive—the last major offensive, 2,139 Palestinians were killed. Of
these, 490 were children. Eleven thousand (11,000) Palestinians were wounded. Of
that number, 3,000 were children. In addition, Israel destroyed 20,000
Palestinian homes in Gaza, and up to 500,000 Gaza residents were displaced. By
comparison, in the same (2014) conflict, 64 Israeli soldiers were killed; 6
Israeli civilians were killed; and 1 Israeli child was killed. (Statistics: The Independent, August 27, 2014)
According
to the race organizer’s (UNRWA USA) web site, “Children and adults alike
continue to experience high levels of stress and distress as result of a decade
of recurrent Israeli military assaults, deepening poverty, increased
gender-based violence, isolation, and movement restrictions because of the
illegal blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt.”
The
UNRWA USA web page continues, “The stress of these issues has produced:
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, intense fear,
bed-wetting, poor concentration, eating disorders, sleeping disorders,
irritability, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).”
So
the Gaza 5K was for the innocent children of Gaza, and to this writer, who has
done dozens of 5Ks, it felt right being there.
Teaming up at the Gaza 5K
Runners
and walkers participating in the Gaza 5K have the option of running as
individuals, or as part of a team. The teams participating were diverse, and
illustrated the world community’s deep love for the Palestinian people and a
broad commitment to human rights in Gaza. A total of 60 teams participated in
the 2017 Gaza 5K.
The
team U.S. Campaign for Palestinian
Rights, which included many non-Muslim friends of the Palestinian cause,
raised the most money for the refugees, at $4,875. The team’s self-description
was “Jogging for Justice.”
Team Al-Hanooti included family
members of the late imam of Dar ul-Hijra fame. Imam Muhammad Hanooti was born
in Haifa, Palestine, and the family evidently does the race every year,
including shortly after their patriarch’s passing in 2015. The team raised
close to $1,777 among their seven members. Hanooti’s 29-year old daughter Shayma al-Hanooti finished the race in
39:54.
Another
team was that of Albert Mokhiber and his family: Team Mokhiber. The former Arab American Anti-Discrimination
Committee (ADC) head, now an attorney at a high profile law firm in DC, led one
of the top fundraising teams, raising $4,772 for Gazan refugees. Mokhiber’s daughter
Laila is Director of Communications for UNRWA USA, and the Mokhibers said the
team was their way of helping Palestinian refugees. The 69-year old Albert Mokhiber walked the race,
finishing in 1:02 (1 hour 2 minutes). His wife Hindy, 10 years his junior, finished
in 48:50.
A Tribe Called Hibster was the fifth
ranked team in fundraising, raising $3,309. The team included several members
of the Dajani family, which has centuries’ old roots in Palestine. The team’s
captain, Hiba Ismeail, fundraised
with great fervor, but did not walk or run the event.
MAS (Muslim American Society) Maryland’s four member
team raised $1,767. Their team member Marwan
Oweis held an impressive pace of 7:29 min/miles throughout the race,
finishing in 23:14.
DMV (District-Maryland-Virginia) Muslim Youth’s team was
dominated by women, including team captain and longtime pro-Palestine activist
Aneesah Abdul-Fattaah. The team’s Nathan
Nesbitt, of Cambridge, MA, took first place overall, finishing in 18:25. He
held an astounding 5:56 min/mile pace for the duration of the 3.1 mile course.
The team raised $116.
The
top female runner, 25-year old Cherie
Bennett, did not appear registered with any team. With short cropped blond
hair, shorts, and tank top, she blazed the field, finishing in 20:24. She was doing
6:34 min/miles! In the awards ceremony which followed the event, Bennett said she
had been to Palestine, and supported the Palestinian cause.
Then
there was Wadi Run, a team of
Georgetown University students. They raised $1,061. Wadi Run team member Lauren
Stricker was the 2nd fastest of all women, finishing in 22:39. (She
held a 7:18 min/ mile pace.) Her team mate, Keith McKay, finished just before
her, completing the course in 22:34.
PLO Delegation, a team in
itself, consisted of only three people, and raised exactly $79. One woman from
that team, 31-year old Janeen Rashmawi
almost took me, running 7:32 min/miles. (I was doing 7:25 min/miles, but more
on this later.)
Islamic Relief, a team with 12
members, raised only $211. But IRUSA team members, mostly young, compensated by
blazing the field. They were fast, most of them finishing in less than 30
minutes. Twenty-five year old Ibrahim
Zafar, of Arlington, VA, was the fastest of them, finishing in 24:15 (he
was doing 7:49 minute miles).
Jews for Gaza, a team with 9
members, raised $1,055. The team’s self-description was “Jews stand in
solidarity with Palestinian refugees to support freedom and dignity for all.”
Their
team mate, 23-year old Adam Beardsley, was the fourth fastest of all runners,
finishing the course in 19:07. (He held a 6:09 min/ mile pace).
Team Jamaat al-Muslimeen
This
was the first year that Jamaat al-Muslimeen participated as a team, called Team Jamaat Al-Muslimeen. Among others,
the diverse team included Kalim Umran, a Muslim historian who is the narrator
of a PBS video series on Barry Farms (a project in SE Washington, DC, and the
subject of major gentrification attempts); Shakoorah El, an activist sister
from Baltimore, who is also practiced in traditional African dance; and New Trend editor/ imam Dr. Kaukab
Siddique.
Imam Dr. Kaukab Siddique of Masjid
Jamaat al-Muslimeen-Baltimore, who is 74, completed the walk in 1:22 (1 hour 22
minutes). By all appearances, he was the only imam to physically participate in
the Gaza 5K. Dr. Siddique, who used to run with his mother years ago, and then
later with his daughter (this writer), did the course without stopping or
feeling overly drained. He said he walked continuously for at least half an
hour every day, and expressed the hope that his participation might encourage
other Muslims to follow the Prophet’s example of physical fitness and staying
active into their later years.
The
Gaza 5K was Shakoorah El’s first
race. She completed the course in 57:46. As awards were announced, she was
astonished to hear her name being announced: She was awarded the “Fastest
Masters Female Award” (the Gaza 5K’s masters award is granted to the fastest
65+ year old runner).
I
was team captain for Team Jamaat
al-Muslimeen, my first time ever as captain of anything. It was a
liberating feeling, running the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail, in Southeast Washington,
DC, an area which, to me, held many parallels to the Gaza struggle. The run was
an out-and-back run, so that after one reached the half way mark and doubled
back, one could see other runners approaching from the opposite direction. Some
of the runners I saw as I doubled back carried the Palestinian flag. When I saw
them, I yelled “Free free Palestine!” to which they responded in kind. Many of
the runners and walkers expressed appreciation for my shirt during the race, as
well as afterwards. (I wore a long-sleeve black tee, bearing the words “Free
Palestine” above the red, black, white, and green Palestinian flag.)
After
I’d been running for a while, I chanced upon Shakoorah El. She was speedwalking while talking animatedly with
two other sisters in hijab. All three
of them cheered me on, and I did similarly. Shortly after that, I saw Dr. Kaukab Siddique (Ameer of Jamaat
al-Muslimeen). He was accompanied by Abdur
Rahman Hasib (Masjid Jamaat al-Muslimeen custodian, and a dear brother and
friend). They were walking in relaxed fashion, holding a steady pace. We
exchanged chants of “Allah ho Akbar!” and fist pumps, after which it seemed to
me that we all moved a little bit faster.
The
crowd support propelled me to finish #1 in my division. I completed the race in
23:01, holding on for dear life to my 7:24 min/mile pace. And— I was the 4th
fastest female finisher out of the 312 women who ran the race. Only three women
were faster than me, and they were 25, 21, and 30 years old (1st, 2nd,
and 3rd place respectively). I was #23 out of everyone including men
(so out of a total of 545 participants).
I
am 49-years old, and did not get into serious running until age 39 (prior to
that, I engaged only in casual and sporadic running since my teen years). Aside
from the personal sense of accomplishment in doing a race for a cause very dear
to my heart—Palestine, the experience reaffirmed for me the notion that neither
age nor gender necessarily define ability, and that some limitations are human-/
self-imposed. And— the hadith tell us that our beloved Prophet (SAW) engaged in
very physically arduous military campaigns against the kuffar which required him to traverse long distances on horseback
across the deserts of Arabia until the age of 65. If he is our role model, we,
as a community need to up the ante on physical fitness. How many of us can run
a mile comfortably? The Rasool (SAW) could, and did, with his wife, Ayesha Siddiqa
(RA).
Alhamdulillah,
our team, Team Jamaat al-Muslimeen, raised $743 in its first year of
participating in the race.
In
all, 540 people ran the Gaza 5K: 228 men and 312 women. There were Afghans,
Libyans, Palestinians, Bengalis, Pakistanis, American-born Blacks, and others. There
was a woman in a wheelchair, an evidently pregnant woman, and many who ran or
walked with baby strollers. At race’s end, an elderly man who had walked the
3.1 mile course was taken away in an ambulance. From the ambulance he called
out that he would be doing the race again next year.
At
least for one day, at the Gaza 5K, the aphorism “The believers are but one
brotherhood/ sisterhood” was evident.
©2017 by Nadrat Siddique
