Bit by bit the pieces are coming together – more runner registrations this week , a few more marshals (still not enough though: fancy it? And on top of this rather prosaic administrative jigsaw, is a little bit of magic as we start to see and hear all the art and love people bring to make small park BIG RUN such a wonderful event .
Here is a little taste of Body of Sound, who once again will sing at Turners Hill (hopefully not in the rain this year!), at 8pm on Saturday June 18th. You will have to be there to hear more.
A short programme of films in the walled garden, from Saturday midday till 4 and Sunday 11.30 till 1.30. See our programme
There are many films about Palestinians as refugees, so central has this issue been to the Palestinian experience since 1948 – and some would argue since 1917, when the British mandate started. This selection is inevitably biased: based on what we have easy access to, the available time to review their relevance and a suitable programme length for small park BIG RUN. But we hope it gives the essence and breadth of that experience as well as its contemporary relevance.
The films we are showing have all been made by Badil (badil.org), a refugee rights organisation in the West Bank. Badil make many films and we recommend you review them all! These particular films have been made over a period of time to convey information about the plight of Palestinians as refugees, the theme for small park BIG RUN in 2022.
We start with Nakba in numbers which is a fast paced run through of the numbers of people who were expelled or have been forcibly displaced during the Nakba.
As you will see in the next films, expulsion is an ongoing process and pressures brought to bare on Palestinians by Israel are designed to force them to leave. But their resistance is both courageous and long lived as shown in We Will Never Leave and Here We Will Remain.
For those that live outside of Palestine and Israel, in refugee camps in the Lebanon, life is harsh and the craving to leave to find a better life is the focus of the next two short films: No place to be and Stranded in Lebanon.
Shatila refugee camp
Last but one, we have a longer film (16 minutes), The Sun is Due to Rise. This film takes us through both the initial creation of refugees between 1947 and 1949 and subsequent policies enacted by Israel to force Palestinian people from their homes.
Handala, the iconic character created by Naji al-Ali, demanding the right of return
We finish with a determined cry for the right to return in Why we should return.
We hope these films are informative and inspire you to continue your support for Palestinian people to fight for justice.
The theme for small park BIG RUN this year is Palestinians as refugees. It is central to the Palestinian experience. No where is this better expressed than in our interviews with Kholoud and Sahar, who talk in such moving way about the right of return.
Entrance to Aida camp with the iconic key of return laid above
There are diasporas all over the world – the largest outside the middle east is in Chile. But overwhelming refugees are based either in Palestine – also known as Internally Displaced Persons – and surrounding countries
You can find out more about where Palestinian refugees live here and also from Badil, a refugee rights centre in the West Bank.
Throughout small park BIG RUN we will be showing a selection of films from Badil where you can find out more about life as a Palestinian refugee. See our programme
small park BIG RUN’s theme this year is Palestinians as refugees – and being a refugee is a chucking out and an exclusion – the very opposite of inclusivity.
But for us, inclusivity is at the heart of what the ‘run’ is about.
We want to make sure that anyone can take part in small park BIG RUN: you do not have to run – we have had walkers and hoppers and unicyclists too. And we have had people who need help to get round.
If you think this sort of event is not for you, please think again. We would love to hep you take part. We have an hour on the Saturday (4-5) and an hour on the Sunday (11-12) when we will make sure there will be someone to help.
So if you think you will need help getting round please email or enter here and tick the box ‘I will need support’ and we will get in touch.
As our theme this year is Palestinian refugees, we wanted to highlight especially this year’s Nakba commemoration in Sheffield . You can read a short article about the Nakba here
The first, Shooting the Messenger, is about how the Israeli state targets Palestinian journalists. Also showing is a film called Al Arakeeb, which gives an example of the Ongoing Nakba and details how the displacement of Palestinian people continues today.
After the films please join us in lighting The Torch of Return as symbol of solidarity with Palestinian people all over the world. This has been organised by Badil, a. refugee rights organisation based in Bethlehem, to affirm the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to return, self-determination, and resist the Israeli colonial-Apartheid regime.
The small park BIG RUN has been raising funds both for women’s education as well as also for children in Gaza to have professional help in order to recover from the trauma of war.
Thanks to all our supporters in small park BIG RUN and beyond, we have built the healing centre and it is now up and running.
Now we are looking to start a complementary mobile service to reach children around Khan Younis, and beyond, who cannot get to the healing centre.
Our fiend and supporter Judy walked for 50 hours over 24 days to cover one kilometre for every year of her life.
She had 150+ encounters with individuals, couples, families, friends and dogs and toiled up the hill to complete my 73rd kilometre lap where she was duly presented with a certificate by the Mayor.
Every year after small park BIG RUN we link up with our partners in Palestine. It is a wonderful event; and this year it also an opportunity to learn from and show solidarity with Palestinian people.
This year was no exception – it proved to be a wonderful and important moment of solidarity and friendship.
At the start we had a very moving tribute to Fatima Al Ajarma, who died this year at the age of 100, after a lifetime of resistance demanding her right to return to her land in Ajjur.
You can watch the tribute from her granddaughter, Kholoud, read by Sheffield PSC activist Annie O’Gara:
We heard about the impact of Covid-19 on healthcare in Aida Refugee Camp, Bethlehem from Dr Mohammed Abu Sroar. Listen to the audio here
And from Dr Osama Freina, Director of Gaza Community Mental Health Programme in the Southern Part of the Gaza Strip, we heard about the describe terrible impact of violence on children. Listen to the audio of Musheir Al Farra interviewing and then translating here
As in past years we had a link up with our partners at the Never Stop Dreaming Charity Association (http://bit.ly/neverstopdrreaming) – one of the organisations that we have worked with for many years and will benefit directly from your fundraising efforts. You can watch a moving and heart-warming video of the children singing here:
