The Face of Gaza
By Tamara Ben-Halim, published in Mondoweiss

I’m stuck on a bus from DC to New York, and I feel claustrophobic. It’s been over five hours, and now that the bus is standing still in a dark tunnel, with traffic surrounding us every which way, it’s easy to feel overcome by a sense of confinement.

A few days ago, I was pedalling along on a bike from Philadelphia to Washington DC. The open spaces, small country roads, endless green fields and trees, and the overwhelming sensation of freedom, could not be more different to my surroundings right now.

I was part of Cycling4Gaza, a group of 40 people who were cycling to raise awareness and funds for Gaza. One of those 40 was a 16 year old boy from Gaza, Ahmed Abunammous. Ahmed was shot in the leg by an Israeli sniper last year, at the age of 15. His leg had to be amputated, and Ahmed was lucky enough to be treated by the tireless PCRF (Palestine Children’s Relief) who flew him out to the US soon after to be operated on and fitted with a prosthetic leg. A year later, this time last week, Ahmed was cycling with us across the east coast, working his one leg nearly twice as hard as the rest of us.

One night, after we had arrived at a rest stop in Maryland, around 100km from our final destination of DC, we were talking to Ahmed about Gaza, eager to find out more about what life was like there. As Ahmed spoke casually about wars and violence, the demolishing of homes, the siege, and daily electricity blackouts, we were reminded that those theoretical words for us were a part of mundane daily life for people like Ahmed... [Continue Reading]

Some activists are using their bikes to raise awareness about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Cycling4Gaza is the name of a group of volunteers that gathered dozens of cyclists from around the world to raise money for children’s health care in Gaza.

The cyclists rode through York on Saturday during their bike ride from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C.

The war in Gaza has left more than 2,100 Palestinians dead and organizers say they wanted to use a a physical challenge to raise awareness about those dealing with the war... [Continue Reading]