Running for Gaza: Linda Wafi’s marathon journey for Palestinian children

The runners who traversed the five boroughs on November 2 came from all over the world to participate in the New York City Marathon. There were over 27,000 Americans, 622 Japanese and 543 Danes. Wilson Kapsang, the winner of the race, is from Kenya.

But there was only one registered as being from Palestine: Linda Wafi.

The 33-year-old Palestinian, a program manager for the International Youth Foundation, braved the unfriendly weather to complete the 26.2-mile race, one of the world’s largest marathon events.

“I never ran in such cold and windy weather, so that was definitely a challenge,” Wafi said after she completed the marathon. “I’m really glad I put Palestine in the race.”

Wafi, who spent ten years of her life in the Gaza Strip but is now a resident of Washington, D.C., raised over $1,300 for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund ahead of the race, though she plans to keep fundraising until she hits $2,000. The fund, founded in 1991, is a nonprofit that brings injured children from the Middle East to hospitals around the world for treatment. They also send medical missions into the Palestinian territories.

Wafi’s fundraising efforts will go to an organization that is busy these days with helping Palestinians who were injured during Israel’s last military operation in the Gaza Strip, which took place over the summer. Over 11,000 Palestinians, including about 3,370 children, were hurt by Israeli army attacks, according to the United Nations.

In the past, the fund has been one of the few medical groups allowed by Israel into Gaza–a territory subject to strict restrictions on the movement of goods and people. Their international medical teams have so far been unable to secure the needed permits to travel into the area. But the fund created the first pediatric cardiac center in Gaza, which was operating throughout the conflict.

Sarah Alrayyes, the chapter coordinator for the fund, said their staff was “advised to stay home during the war.” But as bombs and tank shells continued to fall in Gaza, employees “insisted to go out every day and provide humanitarian aid. We were giving out mattresses and food and clothes and shelter and entertainment.”

The Israeli assault on Gaza was devastating. Whole neighborhoods were flattened. The Israeli military shelled a number of United Nations-run schools sheltering civilians. The human rights group Amnesty International has charged that the Israeli military committed war crimes. 

Wafi, who has many family members living in Gaza, watched this situation from afar. The war “was kind of what tipped me towards going with the PCRF versus just running it on my own and not even doing the fundraising,” she said, using an acronym for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. “I happen to enjoy going out for a run, so that’s one thing I can do. I have a pair of running shoes and two working legs. I’m going to use that to spread the word and raise awareness about where I come from.”

Clad in a green keffiyeh–a scarf that is a symbol of Palestinian nationalism–and a white sweater while in a Manhattan coffee shop, Wafi said she is “not an athlete, and I’m not a marathoner, and I’m not any of those crazily fit people.” She has, however, run in the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C to raise money for the United Palestinian Appeal, a nonprofit that provides funding for health and economic projects in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Raising funds for charity through marathons is a common choice. Running with an official charity is one way to obtain guaranteed entry into the race. Lauren Loeb, a spokeswoman for New York Road Runners, which organizes the New York City Marathon, said 8,500 runners raised an estimated $25-30 million for hundreds of charities. Groups have to pay hundreds of dollars to register as official charities, and they often encourage runners–who also have to pay to register–to garner thousands of dollars. In total, more than 50,000 runners participated in the marathon.

The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund was not a registered charity, though their New York chapter did promote Wafi’s run and fundraising plan. Wafi got into the race because of a rule guaranteeing a spot to people who failed to previously obtain entry three times in a row.

The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund has officially registered for other marathons, though. For the past five years, “Team Palestine” has run in the Chicago Marathon, and have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“Having Team Palestine for PCRF is fantastic. It’s a great example to show that you don’t have to be a doctor to help,” said Alrayyes.

Wafi said an added benefit to running in marathons is that it’s a chance to get people to talk about Palestine, always a contentious issue in the U.S.

She ran with a red shirt that sported the words “Gaza Strong” on the back. At around the eighteenth mile, she grew tired. A man gave her a boost after he ran next to her and said, “C’mon ‘Gaza Strong’ you can do it, keep moving.”

“That was a nice thing to hear,” said Wafi, “because I never really know how people will react.”