Athens marathon protest of abductees and Palestinians/Einat Olivier
Running, for runners, is the closest thing to religion.
With the worships and customs, the feast days and the feast, it requires sacrifices and has great priests and devout believers.
There are special foods for the members of the community, clothes, language and necessary accessories.
Those who have experienced running know that this daily hour is the mental equivalent of prayer.
The same monotonous repetition, the same ability to reach the deepest places of the spirit and transcendence at the end of a purifying dawn experience.
Races are the synagogues, the pilgrimage sites, of the members of the communities.
Everyone meets, talks about the run and its surroundings.
There is no politics in the air.
Just a common challenge, lots of encouragement and support.
Running is a social act of equality.
Origin and gender, belief or inclination do not change.
All are equal before the track.
Races are gatherings of joy.
How can you run with the weight of war?
Jerusalem Marathon/official website, Omri Caspi
The Jerusalem Marathon is another step that raises the barriers between the parts of the city.
Sweaty and excited crowds will scream national and racial songs in snoring throats at the entrance to the old city
And out of all these it is hard to avoid thinking about the Jerusalem Marathon.
Personally I find it hard to participate in races these days.
How can you go out for a celebration of joy in the middle of a war?
When the abductees and their families do not sleep at night or rest during the day.
They are in the depths of adversity and I will celebrate with music, and photos and poses, good food and beers at the end, and in general, how can I run when I have such a feeling of heaviness?
But maybe it's just me and my sad spirit since October 7th.
In Jerusalem anyway there is a majority for the other opinions.
But you are there.
How can you go on air with an advertising campaign and benefits for the people of Israel and its security forces without a single good word (or discount) for the abductees, their families, the victims and all the mourners?
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The families of the kidnapped don't sleep, and the runners celebrate with poses and beers?
impossible.
Participants in the marathon/relationship
It was a blessed thought to bring this wonderful sport back to the city.
It deserves a unique international marathon.
At one of the meetings of the steering committee before the marathon, I proposed two alternatives to the renewed marathon:
"The Marathon of the Holy Places"
.
From the Church of the Nativity through the iconic sites of the three religions of the Bible.
and
the "Reconciliation Marathon"
.
where groups and individuals from all the city's communities will run and carry the message
"living together running together"
.
Francie commented at the time, they didn't even consider the offers.
And created a marathon that is coming to the sickest city in Israel.
A race that is just like the city council.
offensively ignores forty percent of the city's Palestinian residents.
They do not have sports facilities like in the west of the city, there is no significant cultivation of sports communities and running clubs, and nothing was invested in encouraging registration for the urban race.
Yes, the route goes through their streets and neighborhoods.
Yes, sweaty and enthusiastic crowds will scream national and racial songs in their throats at the entrance to the Old City, police officers will stop a lot of young Arabs on the side streets, not far from the eye
. This is a city with a wall in its heart: of opacity, indifference and pure malice. This marathon is another layer that raises the partitions between the parts of the city.
Murakami's parable of the egg and the wall is more relevant than ever.
Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Leon participates in the marathon/Official website, Alternative 1
Haruki Murakami, the wonderful Japanese author, wrote one of the most famous running books of all time - "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running".
He knows a lot about running.
When he received the Jerusalem Prize in 2009, it became clear that he also understands Israelis, Jerusalem and the Gaza wars.
In the background was a "cast lead" war and a huge killing of innocents in the Strip.
And Murakami, with extraordinary public courage, then slapped us with the words that Nes Liham did not care about:
"When an egg breaks on a wall in a high way, I will always stand on the side of the egg. Yes, even if the wall is very right and the egg is wrong, I will stand on the side of the egg. Someone else will have to decide What is right and what is wrong; maybe time or history will do it... There is only one thing I hope to convey to you today. We are all human beings, individuals who transcend nationality and race and religion, fragile eggs standing against a wall in the form called "the method". Apparently, there is no We have no hope of eternity. The wall is too high, too firm and too cold. If we have any hope of eternity, it lies in our belief in the absolute uniqueness and irreplaceability of our souls and the souls of others, and in the warmth that will be created when we unite our souls."
Jerusalem Marathon/Jerusalem Municipality
The Jerusalem Marathon has always been alien to Murakami's teachings.
And this year more than ever.
This marathon should not have been held at this time.
It must not be run like this, and it is absolutely forbidden to stop throwing eggs at the wall of opacity of the Jerusalem and Hamas methods.
In the end they will fall apart and then we will happily run the race of peace and brotherhood.
Sons and daughters of all the peoples of the city and the region.
The writer served as chairman of the Knesset and chairman of the Jewish Agency
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