No Marathon for Gaza After Hamas Bans Female Runners

The Takeaway

The United Nations Relief and Work Agency has canceled the third annual Gaza marathon after Hamas, the controlling party in the region, banned women from the race.  
Journalist Nabila Ramdani  planned to run the marathon scheduled for April 10. A French-Algerian journalist living in London, Ramdani expressed her disappointment with Hamas’s decision, particularly since women have run the race in previous years:  
“I think, frankly, old-fashioned, sexist ideas have prevented a hugely significant race from happening,” she says. “A race, which, in the end, aimed to gain maximum positive publicity for a blighted strip of land.”
Through the marathon, Ramdani hoped to raise money for U.N.-run summer camps for children in Gaza, another apparent problem for Hamas. “In previous years, there has been anger by Hamas about funds raised by the marathon going to U.N. children summer camps in which boys mix with girls,” she explains. “Sadly, this shows that the coming together of the sexes which happens in sporting…is something which has angered conservative members of Hamas for a number of years.”  

Invest in independent global news

The World is an independent newsroom. We’re not funded by billionaires; instead, we rely on readers and listeners like you. As a listener, you’re a crucial part of our team and our global community. Your support is vital to running our nonprofit newsroom, and we can’t do this work without you. Will you support The World with a gift today? Donations made between now and Dec. 31 will be matched 1:1. Thanks for investing in our work!