- Title: WEST BANK: Hebron site of rare West Bank car rally
- Date: 6th April 2008
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MAXIM SARSOUR, MEMBER OF PUBLIC RELATIONS TEAM AT WATANIYA MOBILE, THE ORGANIZER OF THE CAR RALLY, SAYING: "The difficulty of movement in this area is a big problem, specially when it is a race, it takes a lot of coordination to bring the participants from Nablus to Hebron, but this is a challenge to the situation. I believe the audience in Hebron like
- Embargoed: 21st April 2008 13:00
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- Topics: Sports
- Reuters ID: LVAE9SVILQVYWF3707GGJ1SXURNG
- Story Text: Palestinians from the West Bank and Jerusalem take part in a car Rally.
Participants said the rally, held in Hebron, challenges the existence of Israeli checkpoints which fragment the Palestinian territories.
Palestinian rally drivers, unable to fully show their skills on open roads because of Israeli roadblocks, sought to promote motor sports in the occupied West Bank by staging indoor races in Hebron on Friday (April 4).
With distances hard to come by in the Israeli checkpoint-ridden West Bank, 37 race car drivers including one female driver gathered in Hebron and raced around a makeshift circuit set up by Wataniya mobile company, and were cheered on by a crowd 3,000.
"The difficulty of movement in this area is a big problem, specially when it is a race, it takes a lot of coordination to bring the participants from Nablus to Hebron, but this is a challenge to the situation.
I believe the audience in Hebron likes to see the racers from Nablus or Bethlehem or Ramallah in their city here in Hebron," Public Relations manager, for the sponsoring company, Maxim Sansour told Reuters.
The race car drivers came from different areas in the West Bank and Arab East Jerusalem. This required careful planning in order to secure their passage through the many checkpoints set up by Israel around Jerusalem and throughout the West Bank.
"We are saying that despite this political situation we challenge this and reach all the areas and districts, so we can give everyone their right to view the race and take part in the race. God willing the next time it will be easier," the only female race car driver Sonia Aweidah said.
The crowds cheered and danced as they watched the first ever car rally in the city of Hebron, the main city in one of the largest and most heavily populated districts in the Palestinian territories.
Most of the race car drivers are regular everyday working folks who seized the opportunity to take part in this event and test their ability to drive fast.
"Being under occupation in the Palestinian territories makes such races non-existent. A rally race requires distances and as everyone knows there are many checkpoints between the Palestinian cities or even within the cities themselves. Therefore it is difficult to have such a rally race in Palestine, especially if the race is for long distances," a journalist who took part in the race Hazem Bader explains.
Many of the cars used in the race were very modest, but the event was viewed as a success.
"I was hoping the event would have been better organised, but it was difficult, not easy, the competition was very tough. Thank God I did well and was able to take first place," said the first place race driver Wassim Rajoub who came from Jerusalem.
Israel has built hundreds of checkpoints and roadblocks in the West Bank, home to 2.5 million Palestinians. It says the barriers stop suicide bombers from reaching its cities. Palestinians call the travel restrictions collective punishment.
A Palestinian telecommunications company, Wataniya Mobile, sponsored the Hebron event, deciding to hold races in different West Bank cities rather than try to chart a course across the checkpoint-filled territory. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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