In March 2018, Gaza cycling champion Alaa al-Dali was six months away from achieving his goal of representing Palestine at the Asian Games in Indonesia.
Days later, an Israeli sniper shot al-Dali in the leg as he took part in the Great March of Return, a massive wave of protests on the Israel-Gaza border organized by Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip against the expropriation of their land.
The bullet ended up shattering 22 centimeters of bone in al-Dali’s right leg and shattering his lifelong dream of competing in the Olympics on a bicycle.
Even as an able-bodied athlete, it was nearly impossible for al-Dali to compete internationally. Israeli authorities had blocked his requests to leave the besieged Gaza Strip. To protest the ban, al-Dali, then 21, showed up at the march wearing a helmet and full cycling gear.
He left without the lower half of his right leg.
Al-Dali’s fate is disturbingly commonplace: 81 percent of Israeli gunfire during the 2018 march targeted protesters’ legs, according to a United Nations report. As a result, 122 Palestinians had their legs amputated.
Gaza Sunbirds Take Flight
Israeli violence and the resulting amputation didn’t stop al-Dali from continuing to cycle. So he formed the Gaza Sunbirds, a paracycling team made up of athletes who lost limbs in the 2018 protests and other Israeli attacks. His team of 20 cyclists is a testament to the resilience of athletes who have been painfully alienated from their sport by Israeli violence.
As Israel’s war on Gaza continues, paracyclists have come together for a different cause.
The Gaza Sunbirds have used their international recognition to raise funds for those affected by the war and their bicycles to distribute aid on the rubble-strewn streets of their home country.
So far, the group’s international fundraising campaign has raised more than $300,000. The money has been used to distribute 72 tons of food, provide shelter for 225 people, provide more than 7,000 hot meals and provide $25,000 in stipends to people with disabilities in Gaza. The Sunbirds have also partnered with Palestinian NGO Sharek Youth Forum to build a displacement camp – a 25-tent complex with food provided by World Central Kitchen.
“During the war, cars were not readily available, but our bicycles allowed us to move around even on destroyed streets,” al-Dali told Tel Aviv Tribune, highlighting the extent of the damage to infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.
“Biking takes us where we need to go, unlike the limitations we face as amputees.”
Part 1 of this week’s humanitarian mission: our team prepares hot meals and distributes them to as many people as possible!
Our team in Gaza is not backing down! We are drawing strength from each other and are looking forward to seeing our evacuated team members compete at the international level 💪🏽❤️ 🇵🇸 pic.twitter.com/c5TZkTErsR
– gazasunbirds (@gazasunbirds) April 27, 2024
Cycling as a form of resistance
Despite months of war, al-Dali refused to give up on his dreams.
The 26-year-old has continued to train for a long-awaited chance at redemption at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
“My dream of participating in the Olympics was long before my amputation,” al-Dali said.
“This is our first step towards success as Palestinian athletes. It is our right to participate in international competitions.”
Qualifying for the Paralympics is difficult, but almost impossible for Gazan athletes. Points must be accumulated by consistently placing among the top in competitions held around the world.
The Israeli blockade, however, prevents Gaza-based athletes from leaving the enclave without special permission, which is usually refused. That was the case for the Sunbirds before the war began in October.
“We have been trying to send our athletes to races for the past two years but we have not been able to due to visa issues, the headquarters and our inability to travel,” Karim Ali, team manager of the National Cycling Federation of Palestine (NCFP) and co-founder of the Gaza Sunbirds, told Tel Aviv Tribune.
In April, al-Dali was evacuated to Egypt. That gave him a glimmer of hope that he would compete in the final paracycling competitions of the year and qualify for Paris. His wife and three young children were unable to leave Gaza.
As al-Dali competed in qualifying competitions in Belgium, Italy and Kazakhstan, bad news continued to pour in from home.
Originally from Rafah, her family has been displaced several times. They face shortages of food and clean water. Recently, two of her children fell ill from toxins released by the munitions, according to doctors in Gaza.
“The rockets fired into Gaza are causing havoc and spreading viruses through the air. The destruction is immense,” al-Dali said. “I cannot forget the war or the horrors our families are facing.”
The nearly 11-month war has also affected other Sunbirds, who have abandoned competitions to focus on seeking asylum outside Gaza.
“My home in Gaza was destroyed and I fled seven times. My business was destroyed and I lived in a tent for months,” said Mohammed Abu Asfour, a 24-year-old paracyclist and member of the Sunbirds who also lost his leg during the Great March of Return.
“After I left, I was afraid for my family back in Gaza, especially with the attack on Rafah and the closure of the border,” Abu Asfour said. “What I experienced in the past few months has affected me a lot.”
Paris Paralympic Games: The Grief
Heading into the Paralympics, al-Dali was the only Sunbird in contention for a spot at the Games.
Al-Dali said he never had a direct path to qualifying for the Olympics. Because of the Israeli blockade, he missed too many international competitions. His only hope was to apply for what is called a bipartisan slot, which grants athletes an exemption on grounds of inclusion and diversity, even if they do not meet the qualifying criteria.
“Other countries have been participating and collecting points for two years now,” al-Dali said. “So even if we had finished first (in the qualifying races), we would not have gotten the points we needed.”
Recently, he was disappointed again when he learned that the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) had rejected his application for a bipartisan spot.
“I was hoping to represent Palestine and raise its flag,” said al-Dali, who was training in Malaysia when he heard the devastating news. “They should have taken into account the war conditions we are in and accepted my candidacy.”
An IPC official told Tel Aviv Tribune they had received “a record number of bipartisan requests” for places at the Paris Games.
“It was decided not to award a place to Alaa al-Dali because there were other athletes in the same category who had applied for places and had more competitive qualifying times,” the official said.
For the Gaza cycling champion, receiving the news was an “extremely difficult moment.”
“It was an indescribable feeling of sadness, grief and frustration,” al-Dali said.
There is a glimmer of hope, though. In June, al-Dali finished with high enough scores at the Asian Para-cycling Road Championships in Kazakhstan to qualify for the 2024 UCI Para-cycling and Road World Championships in Zurich – the second-biggest para-cycling event of the year.
“Over the past month, we have been working on a vocational training program using brand new instruments to take our training to the next level. I am finally feeling major improvements,” al-Dali said with renewed hope.
“The bike is part of me, it’s all I have.”
This article was published in collaboration with Egab.