Mohammad Al-Qadi, a 28-year-old long distance runner, participated in the London Marathon on Sunday, April 22 in order to raise awareness about Gaza's dirty water. Al-Qadi is the founder of Runners For Freedom, a global community comprising runners from all over the world who practice the sport to advocate peace, freedom, and human rights.
Based in France since 2013, Al-Qadi is a proud Palestinian from the West Bank. In just 20 months, he has already finished 11 international marathons, each time making sure to raise the Palestinian flag in order to bring attention to the plight of his people.
The water resources of Palestine are fully controlled by Israel. Today, 97 percent of Gaza’s drinking water is contaminated by sewage, leaving residents with no option than to buy water at six times the standard rate from private enterprises. Earlier this year, Israel cut drinking water supplies and the almost two million residents of Gaza are not allowed to dig wells more than 100 meters deep. This means that not only have people not had access to clean water for months, the water available to them is unsuitable even for agricultural use.
According to Oxfam, water pollution in Gaza has caused a dramatic increase in kidney problems. Citing Dr. Abdallah al-Kishawi, head of nephrology at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the NGO states that there has been a 13-14 percent increase every year in the number of patients admitted with kidney problems to the hospital.
According to Stepfeed, Al-Qadi’s dream is to participate in six of the largest and most renowned marathons in the world, which take place in Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago, and New York City, taking his message to the world. Last year, he was denied entry to the United States, where half of the marathons take place, cutting his dream of taking part in the event short.
