Throughout this wonderful weekend where we celebrated Palestinian people and culture, we remained focused on solidarity and the need to end complicity with the genocide by the UK government.
From the opening speech from Alexi Diamond, Green Party councillor on Sheffield City Council and long term supporter of Palestine liberation, to the closing Fun Run, this year was a perfect mix of sadness at the suffering, anger at the terror of the genocide and occupation, and joy in our community and solidarity.
Thank you everyone who has taken part.
Day 1 – a summary in pictures
Day 2 – a summary in pictures
The BIG SING
As the event comes to a close we were privileged to be able to connect to Gaza and speak to Habiba who spoke of the impact on her life and reams and then people from seven Sheffield choirs sang to Gaza live on zoom.
As the summer heat ebbs on Saturday, we will be starting our evening programme.
First up , at 6pm, will be our community meal, and we are looking forward to seeing lots of you relax on the grass outside Meersbrook Hall with some delicious Palestinian food.
We will be following this with a magnificent lantern procession: watermelon lanterns made in local community groups over the past couple of weeks and some made on Saturday afternoon in the craft tents.
They will be lit up in the woods and ready to welcome the more solemn and silent torchlight procession at 8.15pm. Led by Mushier Al Farra, we will do a single circuit of the park and hang our doves and cranes and lay our candles at the solidarity tree.
We will then ask you to join us in the Palestine Voices Tent (crossing the course carefully to avoid getting in the way of runners) for an evening of poetry from Sheffield Writers for Palestine and music. We are still hoping Dalya can be with us and be joined with Tadhamon!
Once agai , at about 8.15 on the Saturday night of small park BIG RUN, we will be remembering all those who have died in the genocide in Gaza. We will walk a single circuit of the park with a lit flame that will be passed between Palestinian generations. And we will, as last year, march to a single drum beat.
At the end of a circuit we will gather by the solidarity tree and lay down our candles and hang our cranes and doves. Please feel free to write messages of hope and solidarity and love.
(This will be an emotional part of our 24 hours and you may be deep in thought and feeling BUT please do take care when crossing the corse that there are no runners approaching)
On Sunday, June 22nd, we will be hosting a Palestinian breakfast with spBR organisers Jawad and Jonny, joined by Ruba, who is from the West Bank.
He will be leading a discussion on ‘Sumud’ – an all-encompassing term which refers to the resilience and steadfastness of Palestinian people.
But it is more than simply a reference term. It has become an emblem of resistance and for many an integral part of how they live their life.
Below, Mustafa, who visited Sheffield in 2006 as a part of the Al Asria dance tour describes what Sumud means to him.
Whilst he is now safe in Norway his family, from Jabalia refugee camp in North Gaza, are suffering the most terrible ordeal.
Please join us at 10 am on Sunday 22nd June in the Palestine Voices Tent outside Meersbrook Hall for breakfast and discussion.
What Sumud (صمود) truly means for me, Mustafa Awad
Sumud means standing tall when everything is collapsing around you.
It means not giving up even after losing your cousin, your family, your home — everything.
It means crying every night, having nightmares, feeling broken, but refusing to be defeated.
Sumud is when your family calls and tells you they have no food — and even though your heart is shattered, you still speak out, you still fight.
It’s when your mother, brothers, and sisters are starving, living without water or electricity, and the world just watches — but you still believe in justice.
Sumud is saying “I will never bow my head.”
It’s screaming to the world that what’s happening is genocide — and you will never be silent.
It’s being angry and hurt, but still strong. It’s losing family and still saying, “If I lose more, I will never give up.”
Sumud is refusing to be dehumanised. It’s shouting the truth when others stay silent. It’s saying loudly: “I have the right to be angry, I have the right to say ‘fxxk occupation’, and I have the right to never surrender.”
Sumud is when you teach your children to grow up strong — to never forget the uncles and aunts who were slaughtered on live TV while the world did nothing.
It’s keeping their memory alive, turning pain into strength.
It’s being tired, heartbroken, full of rage — but saying with pride:
“We were born strong. We will die strong. Nothing will break us”
The theme of small park BIG RUN this year is play and education. Under incredible pressure and in the face of terrible destruction, educators and students across Palestine both in Gaza and the West Bank, ensure schools and universities carry on.
The building are destroyed but the process continues. We have written a short page describing this in more detail and below we have a video from a woman called Banyas who has set up a tent education operation in Gaza. We were sent this video in October 2024.
For decades the watermelon has been used as an elegant and stylish symbol to display support for the right of Palestinians to self-determination and justice. Sharing the Palestinian national colours, it symbolises a deep connection with the land and depicts seeds of hope for a better future. Plus, it’s pretty to look at, and very tasty to eat!
For these reasons we’re using it on this year’s small park BIG RUN products.
On May 15th it will be Nakba day, the 77th anniversary when 750,000 Palestinian people were forced to flee their homes.
But the Nakba has continued: a determined attempt to remove Palestinians from their land by occupation, house demolitions relentless violence from illegal settlers and more.
In our thousands and in our millions we have to be Palestinians now; what does it say if we look away?
Please do one small thing to commemorate the Nakba, help us build a climate of International solidarity that will, one day, help liberate Palestinian people from occupation.
(The photos are of a house in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, Palestine, earmarked by the Israeli civil court for demolition by the illegal occupation. )
Indefatigable vloger , Wizard Bisan, has told her story with dignity and courage and pride over the past 16 months. We have seen her laugh, mourn , cry and take joy too from Palestinian resilience.
Recently she has told us about the foraging she remembers her grandmother doing and, as she has been able to roam a bit more, she has shown us the destruction of schools where she grew up.
In 2007 one of the small park BIG RUN organisers went to the West Bank. Through the lens of the devastation of Gaza today and the increasingly oppressive occupation in the West Bank, Kath looks back at her travels in the context of the genocide in Gaza that has been going on since October 2023.
You can download her reflections here . Please donate to Sheffield Palestine Cultural Exchange when you do. There are three ways to donate. We suggest £10.
By BACS: transfer funds to the Sheffield Palestine Cultural Exchange bank account using the reference ‘WBT2007’: Sort code: 05-08-18 Account number: 33129312.
Direct debit or credit card payment here (change the amount if you want to give less or more than £10)
