Aussies told not to take part in peace run
Six Israelis, three originally from Australia, were asked to refrain from participating in Australian ultra marathon runner Pat Farmer’s Peace Run, as it passed the Jewish communities of Eli and Shiloh in Samaria. The group had coordinated with Farmer’s team ahead of time to ensure that Jews and Palestinians could run together in a true show of coexistence.
Farmer’s Run
Pat Farmer
However when Ari Briggs, director of Regavim and his group arrived to participate they were asked to stop running after just one kilometer. Apparently the news had reached the Palestinian Olympic Committee in Ramallah, who threatened to boycott the Peace Run if Farmer continued to run with the Jewish well-wishers.
Briggs who led the group decided to abide by Farmer’s request but was peeved that Arabs and Jews had been allowed to participate together throughout Israel, including Bedouins running with Jews in the Negev however when passing Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria the Palestinians had insisted on a no-Jew policy.
“It’s very sad that the Palestinian Authority would sooner attempt to hide the 375,000 Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria, instead of throwing their support behind a genuine attempt to promote peace and coexistence” Said Ari Briggs, Director of Regavim. He went on to say” “True peace is made between people and not by ignoring one and another”.
The group decided to continue their run from Shiloh up to Ariel University where both Israelis and Palestinians study together in a true show of coexistence.
Ari Briggs
“We congratulate Pat Farmer’s peace run for welcoming Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria. The Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria are an integral part of the reality on the ground. Therefore any talk of peace needs to include them, either at the negotiation table or in any other initiative to promote peace. It is a great shame that the Palestinian Authority would prefer to bury their head in the sand than accept this reality” Said Elie Pieprz, Director of External affairs at the YESHA Council.
What a damned disgrace, let’s see if someone from Foreign Affairs or the Australian Embassy speaks up, I’ll bet they don’t.
It will be interesting to see if Israel is given the green light to host matches at Euro 2020 …..listening to the response of Mordechai Spiegler to Fred Kanute on BBC last week was pitiful to me anyway.