Muslims Run for Gaza

 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 2^nd 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 4^th 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 (1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd 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

Running the Boston Marathon for Pakistani Women’s Rights

(Or in particular, for the rights of an outstanding Pakistani woman political prisoner)

April 22, 2017

Letters to the Editor

The Boston Globe

PO Box 55819

Boston, MA 02205-5819

Dear editor,

Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist, once attended MIT on full scholarship. She completed studies in biological sciences, and went on to do her PhD in cognitive neuroscience at Brandeis University, successfully completing it despite being in an abusive marriage (with a Pakistani from whom she later divorced). Her PhD focused on helping dyslexic and otherwise learning disabled children. Today she languishes in a U.S. federal penitentiary, a political prisoner for whom tens of thousands of Pakistanis demonstrate regularly on the streets of London, Karachi, Islamabad, and Peshawar.

I am a Pakistani woman athlete who has run 31 marathons in nine years (including seventeen sub-4 hour marathons). The case of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, who had adopted Boston as her home for over a decade, was so compelling that I could not run America’s oldest marathon except in her name. So, on Patriots Day 2017, I ran my first Boston Marathon in an attempt to draw attention to the egregious human rights violations against this innocent Pakistani Muslim woman.

As I stood in the Boston Commons on race morning, waiting with other runners to board the bus to the race start in Hopkinton, I could picture the slight and slender Aafia among the other doctors, scientists, and health professionals who were among the 27,000 athletes running Boston this year. Instead, Aafia occupied a tiny holding cell at the United States Penitentiary at Fort Worth, completely cut off from her family and community, her health gravely impugned by 14 years of political imprisonment.

She was arrested in Islamabad in a joint U.S.-Pakistani intelligence operation in 2003, one of many innocents caught up in a broad net of politically-motivated, arbitrary, or misplaced arrests during the “War on Terror.” At first, Aafia’s captivity was kept a secret by her captors. This lasted about five years. In flagrant violation of the Geneva Convention, Aafia’s captors refused to acknowledge her presence within the prison system, allowing them to act with complete impunity towards her. She spent part of her captivity at the U.S. Air Force Base in Baghram, Afghanistan, where she was known as “Prisoner 650.” During this time, Aafia was denied proper medical treatment, and repeatedly tortured and raped.

Two of Aafia’s young children, Ahmed and Mariam, were arrested and imprisoned along with her in violation of Geneva Convention stipulations on the detention of children. Like Aafia, they were not entered in any prison registry. Much later, Ahmed and Mariam were released and ordered not to reveal anything about their captivity.

In 2008, Aafia’s captors finally acknowledged that they were holding her, and she was sent to the U.S. to face charges. Her trial was held in a Manhattan courtroom beset by fears of terrorism. She appeared in a wheelchair, displaying signs of having been tortured. Bizarrely, the 110-pound, 5’2’’ Pakistani neuroscientist was charged with the assault and attempted murder of seven U.S. servicemen in Afghanistan.

Despite grave contradictions in the prosecution’s case, and clearly exculpatory evidence in Aafia’s favor, she was convicted and sentenced to 86 years.

On Monday, I ran the Boston Marathon in honor of Aafia, who did so many great things while in Boston. The front of my race tee-shirt bore her image with the words “Free Dr. Aafia.” The back of the tee read “Prisoner 650,” a reference to the early period of Aafia’s captivity when she was held secretly in Baghram. Throughout the race, I met many wonderful race volunteers and runners who were students at MIT. I wondered how many of them knew of their government’s abuse of a Pakistani woman scientist who had sat in the same classroom as them.

Aafia’s case is a glaring example of the government’s disregard for due process, human rights, women’s rights, civil rights, prisoners’ rights, and children’s rights. It is my hope that women’s rights groups and civil libertarians in the U.S. will call for her release. These groups have vociferously and consistently opposed the oppression of Muslim women and girls in cases like that of Malalai Yousufzai, the Chibok girls in Nigeria; and in cases of honor killings. If they are act on principle and not politics, they must speak out for Dr. Aafia Siddiqui.

-Nadrat Siddique