The Jewish-Arab running club that’s uniting some of Jerusalem’s teens

[6chars]

...
It was this unrest that Shoshana Ben-David, an 18-year-old Jewish high school student, said spurred her to start a mixed running group for teenage girls as part of a school project. In Israel, Arabs – who are Muslim or Christian – and Jews learn in separate school systems and have little opportunity to meet each other.

“Some people told me not to do it now, that it was not the right time. But I said that when things get tense, it is exactly the right time to do something like this and show everyone that there are youths who have nothing to do with the political situation and can live together,” said Ben-David, an avid runner.

www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2015/06/16/the-jewish-arab-running-club-thats-uniting-some-of-jerusalems-teens/

[guillaumeb]

1. A candle in the darkness?

Also from the post:
"JERUSALEM – On Thursday, when the starting whistle sounds for the annual Jerusalem Night Run, one group of athletes will not be pounding the Old City’s pavement. They are members of a mixed Jewish-Arab running club who have opted out of the event because it will take place on the first night of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Part of a new nonprofit group called Runners Without Borders, the abstaining runners – all Jerusalem teens – asked organizers to change the date so Muslims, who observe Ramadan by fasting during daylight hours and gathering for a large meal after sundown, could participate. The city denied their request, saying the race had been planned long before the first day of Ramadan was set."


My comment:
Thanks for some positive news. A candle in the darkness, but perhaps it will serve as an example to the leaders on both sides.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2015/06/16/the-jewish-arab-running-club-thats-uniting-some-of-jerusalems-teens/

[6chars]

2. Better to light a candle than curse the darkness. nt