Our dream to establish a running group for Arab and Jewish youth was born out of the growing violence, racism and tension in Jerusalem during the summer of 2014. We are a group of runners made up of Jews and Arabs who train together, and understand that establishing a joint running group for Arab and Jewish youth can help bridge the gaps between the two sides.
The low level of trust that exists between Arab and Jews in Israel, especially during tense times, made it very difficult for us to establish this project. In spite of this, we found partners on both sides who believed in us, and together we succeeded in establishing our first group, a single, girls-only running team.
Over time, friendships started forming between girls from completely different backgrounds, and a cross-border dialogue started to form in front of our eyes!
As a result of the exciting success of the girls group, we organized a group of boys from east and west Jerusalem who were interested in training together, and things took off. We have now evolved into a multi-program organization that fosters running events and dialogue in a number of cities. Our runners have competed in local and international events, and we are sending a team to compete this year in the U.K.’s Richmond Running Festival.
