WEST BANK/JERUSALEM: Australian long distance athlete Pat Farmer runs 1,500 kilometers from Lebanon to Jerusalem, advocating for peace in the region

Record ID: 345120

  • Title: WEST BANK/JERUSALEM: Australian long distance athlete Pat Farmer runs 1,500 kilometers from Lebanon to Jerusalem, advocating for peace in the region
  • Date: 19th May 2014
  • Summary: SINGER ON STAGE SINGING FOR PEACE RESIDENTS AND RUNNERS DANCING IN THE STREETS MUSLIM WOMAN MOVES TO THE RHYTHM OF 'GIVE PEACE A CHANCE'
  • Embargoed: 3rd June 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Jerusalem, West bank
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: International Relations,Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA2XFZ4AFOL6G5PAACMKFQ9USP5
  • Story Text: Australian long distance runner Pat Farmer ran 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) around the Middle East in a peace campaign urging Israelis and Palestinians to return to negotiations.
    He kicked off his run on May 2 in Lebanon's Cedars of the Lord region, racing through a downhill course before reaching the coastal town of Chekka.
    From Beirut, Farmers went to Amman, and crossed the Aqaba border and entered Israel in Eilat. He ran across the Negev desert, Tel Aviv, and then to the West Bank.
    His campaign aims to highlight common aspirations among different people, and encourage the peace process.
    He invited ordinary people him on his run, at whatever pace or distance they can manage.
    In Bethlehem, he was joined by a Palestinian farmer living in a village near Bethlehem.
    Farmer ran past the wall separating the West Bank and Jerusalem, calling attention to its negative impact.

    "Men created that wall. One thing I want to say, is that wall separates east from west. That wall casts a shadow. In the morning, it casts a shadow on Israel. In the afternoon, it casts a shadow on Palestine. Men created that shadow. God didn't," he said.
    U.S.-led peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian officials collapsed in April, amid bitter recriminations.
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suspended the talks on April 24 after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas forged an unexpected unity pact with rival Islamist group Hamas.
    Detailing Israeli actions that he deemed counterproductive, U.S. envoy Martin Indyk cited plans unveiled during the talks for some 8,000 Jewish homes on land the Palestinians want for their future state.
    Farmer urged leaders to return to the negotiating table
    "I'm running for peace. My message is very clear and very simple -- that the people in the Middle East need to know and understand that even though Australia is such a long way away, we care about the peace process here and we care about the people here, and we care about the future generations of your children. And we want you to know, that please please find a way to go back to the negotiation table, and please find a way for peace. I know that people on the ground I've met along the way - they've run with me -- have turned their words of peace into actions, and now we want our leaders, the leaders of all of these nations to know and understand that the people want peace,"
    Farmer ran past the Nativity Church in Bethlehem, where he met local residents.

    "To be at front of the Nativity church- it's a great honor for me as a Christian, but I think it's more it's a great honor for me as a humanitarian. Someone who's been able to link together both Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, and Palestine with my footsteps," he said.
    Another messenger of peace, Pope Francis, will be visiting the region later this month, and Farmer had a message for him too saying that he had seen pockets of it - in places like Byblos, and Haifa, and here in Bethlehem, where communities live together in peace.
    Farmer, a former member of parliament in Australia, holds records for endurance running including the fastest long run around Australia, covering 14,660 kilometers in 191 days.
    He runs ultra-marathons, including the first 1,000 mile track race in Australia. In 2011, he covered more than 20,000 kilometers, his track shoes crossing 14 countries on a run from the North Pole to the South Pole.
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