We are calling on dykes across the UK to clip on their carabiners, lace up their boots and come with us on a 26 mile hike for Palestine.

Why 26 miles?

26 miles is the length of the Gaza Strip, which has experienced bombing so dense has surpassed equivalent of 6 Hiroshima’s. It is roughly a quarter of the size of London, a bit smaller than the Isle of Wight. You could run to the other end of it in around five hours or hike it in ten. And so we are going to do just that, in one day.

On the 20th of September Dykes across the UK are coming together in Manchester, Leeds and Norfolk to demonstrate the incomprehensible destruction caused by these attacks in such a small area of land and to fundraise for Gaza Sunbirds.

We are asking for your help! You can:

1) Sign up to walk with us if you identify as a dyke!

2) If you’re not, donate if you’re able to or,

3) Share this fundraiser with your friends and family

The Airstrikes

Israeli Armes Forces dropped 75,000 tons of explosives on the Gaza Strip in the first 200 days of the genocide. By November 2024, destruction in Gaza had outpaced Allied bombings of Germany during World War II – a space 997 times smaller than Germany.

Before the war, there was an estimated population of 2.3 million people on the Gaza Strip. In 2024, the population was estimated at 2.1 million, a decline on 6% on the previous year. It’s now ranked as the deadliest place in the world 
for children – about 30% of dead children identified were younger than five. Every thirty minutes, a child dies on the Gaza Strip. The life expectancy in Gaza halved during the first year of the genocide, from 75.5 to 40.5 years.

Gaza Sunbirds

Gaza Sunbirds is a Palestinian-led grassroots organization originally focused on building a professional para-cycling team for amputees in Gaza. In response to the ongoing genocide, they’ve shifted to community-led aid, using a local network of staff, athletes, and volunteers to distribute food and essentials in areas unreachable by larger NGOs. By sourcing from remaining farms, warehouses, and markets, they meet urgent needs directly and flexibly. So far, they’ve delivered over $400,000 worth of aid.

About Dykes Against Airstrikes

In association with Dykes Who Hike, Dykes Against Airstrikes is a dyke-run movement in the UK, born from witnessing the ongoing mass destruction, ethnic cleansing and loss of life in Palestine, while our government stands idly by. Our mission is:

1) To fundraise for essential aid distribution in Gaza

2) To educate on the scale of this violence though fact-based research

3) To advocate for an end to the ongoing genocide and a Free Palestine.