Thursday, October 30, 2008

Bicycling Isn't Easy In The West Bank


For 350 riders, consisting of Palestinians, Israelis and foreigners, it was a nice joyful time bicycle riding from Ramallah to Jericho when men in uniforms stop them at a checkpoint and ask them to get lost.

When simply having fun through freedom of movement within your own territory is curbed by overwhelming foreign presence, I can see why even 9 year old Arab kids would take to the streets to fight it or die trying.

2 comments:

bikingbadger said...

As someone who stays in Israel I can tell you that it is sad that the freedom of movement is curbed to such an extent. I don't agree with many of the operations taking place in Israel from both sides. There is a security issue in Israel so as he said in the beginning they did not get all the permissions to hold the race, I'm a racer and we need to have everybody on board before a race can take place. Its for everybody's own safety even if everyone there seemed to be there just for fun, it only takes one person with something strapped under their their shirt....

Anonymous said...

It is a shame that Israel has to take such dramatic measures to protect their citizens from fanatics.

R