Hi everyone, this year I am again running the Royal Parks Half Marathon in support of The Galilee Foundation. This fantastic British charity empowers young Palestinians to become leaders in their communities, experts in their fields, and change-makers in society. It supports young people in strengthening their connection to their Palestinian identity, understanding their rights, developing their communities, and sharing their stories with the wider world.

As some of you may know, I travelled to Israel and the Occupied West Bank many years ago, making friends with wonderful locals, and experiencing firsthand how despite facing almost unendurable danger, fear, and injustice on a constant basis, Palestinians are some of the kindest, most educated, most cultured, and most resilient people on earth. Ever since, I have been trying in any small way I can to assist them in overcoming the horrifying regime of racial domination under which they live, which already was reminiscent of the worst of South African Apartheid and Jim Crowe during my trip thirteen years ago, and is orders of magnitude worse today. This annual half marathon is one of those small things I do, so any contribution made to this JustGiving page, no matter the size, would mean the world to me. As I run, I will imagine I am back in Jericho by the Dead Sea, where the air is fragrant and plentiful and running is extremely easy!

To illustrate why it is now more important than ever to support initiatives like the Galilee Foundation that keep Palestinian identity alive, I would like to quote a leaflet dropped by the Israeli airforce on the residents of Gaza in March 2025, "encouraging" them to "voluntarily emigrate" to other countries. It reads in part:

"The world map won't change if all the people of Gaza were to vanish ... No one will notice you. No one will ask about you. You are left alone to face your inevitable fate. Neither the US nor Europe care about Gaza."

Lets prove the authors of this leaflet wrong! Lets show them that we do care about Palestinians, and that we would notice if they were to all "vanish". Support the Galilee Foundation today!