Running to remember those suffering in Palestine
For the past few months, my evenings have gone by in 5kms, 7kms, 8kms and finally 10s. I signed up for the VHI Women’s Mini marathon to give myself something other than university to focus on. This weekend, thousands of purple t-shirts will run through Dublin city in support of a chosen charity. Those taking part in the event choose which charity they will support and raise funds for.
I signed up for the marathon to keep myself sane over the final months of college when project deadlines and assignments were building up. Sometimes going for a run was the only thing that got me away from my laptop in the evenings. Many people created their own fundraising campaign for the event. Instead of this, I have decided to donate money to a gofundme, which helps Palestinians living in Gaza. Two Palestinian Irish sisters, Sara and Emma Abu Selmia living in Waterford, are fundraising to help their aunts, uncles and cousins who are living in Gaza. Their homes in Northern Gaza have been destroyed. On their fundraising page they write: “Our dad has six brothers and two sisters living in Gaza who, along with their husbands, wives and children have been displaced from their homes, with some now living in tents and struggling to find food and clean water.”
My final year project for university focused on news coverage of the Palestinian Israeli conflict. Each day, I was watching news coverage, writing and reading on repeat for around six months. My weekends consisted of the same. As I sat in the safety of a classroom, I often cried at the devastation happening in Gaza. For the innocent people who are being killed by Israeli forces, the families who have had their homes reduced to rubble, for the people starving due to lack of food and water.
That we live in a world that still believes killing innocent people is devastating. As all these thoughts jumbled and I struggled to watch, I thought of the people living through the conflict. People my own age, older and younger. The thoughts stayed with me on my evening or nightly runs, as I jogged through the University of Limerick campus and thanked my lucky stars that I happened to be born in the Western world, where if something like this were to happen, would draw all sorts of outrage and condemnation.
Last week made me proud to be Irish, when Ireland, along with Norway and Spain, recognised the State of Palestine. It’s easy to get stuck in a trance of thinking that there’s nothing you can do, that the conflict is happening at the other side of the world and has nothing to do with us. As humans, I think we have a responsibility to open our eyes to what is happening to fellow human beings in Gaza. I’m fully aware that simply donating is a drop in the ocean in terms of the aid that is needed, but I won’t get stuck in the trap of ‘there’s nothing I can do’. I can’t watch images of burned children and families following tent bombings in Rafah and turn a blind eye. It’s inhumane.
While reveling in the atmosphere this Sunday, I will not forget how privileged I am to go for a run in safety. Those in Palestine will be on my mind. Over 25 000 women will participate in the VHI Women’s marathon, the biggest women’s event in the world. I am so excited, I have never participated before but everybody says the atmosphere is amazing. The event that pulled me away from my laptop and into the outdoors is here and I really can’t wait to participate. My best 10km time so far has been just under one hour and two minutes. On the day, I hope to get this under the one hour mark but I know I will enjoy the day no matter what the final time is.
It’s fitting that a race which helped me through my final college year is occurring on the week of my final column piece. As I embark on a full time position with The Anglo-Celt, leaving my student days behind, it’s time to finish up on my student column. I want to thank all my readers. To each of you who come to me to say that you enjoy my column, it means so much to me. To those who come to say the opposite, it means just as much. I really don’t think it healthy to surround yourself with people who only have positive feedback and thankfully, in Cavan, be it positive or negative, somebody will always have something to say.
I look forward to documenting these voices in the future with The Anglo-Celt.
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