Cyclists from the UAE will be using pedal power for charity bike ride to help humanitarian crisis in America
A group of UAE residents are to do a charity bike ride in aid of Palestinians through the streets of one Israel’s closest allies – the US.
A total of 43 cyclists will pedal from Philadelphia to Washington DC in an effort to raise awareness and funds for Gaza’s children.
However, one of the UAE riders participating in the initiative insisted that the bike ride does not have a political agenda – but instead aims to tackle the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Miral Alaraj, a 27-year-old Palestinian-Canadian, said: “We are not motivated politically. We are motivated because of the huge humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“In fact, it’s mostly Americans who have joined the bike ride.” However, she said security was a concern for the three-day event, which is dubbed ‘Cycling4Gaza’.
The organisers, a UAE-based non-profit group called the Palestinian Children Relief Fund (PCRF), have arranged several support cars to accompany them through the 370km ride.
Alaraj said: “We were slightly worried that a group of Palestinian supporters will be passing through an American town. It is a sensitive issue there.”
She said there are five riders from the UAE and the rest are from the US, the UK, Kuwait and Gaza.
The youngest rider is a 16-year-old boy from Gaza who lost his leg after he was shot by an Israeli sniper.
PCRF took him to the States last year and arranged a prosthetic leg for him. It will be the PCRF’s sixth international ride but it is their first one in the US.
Last year a group of 39 Palestinian supporters rode from Hamburg to Berlin, raising $250,000 (Dhs920,000) for their REACH Gaza project. The ride takes place from September 18 to 21.
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