Palestinians gather in front of the gate of Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza during a protest against the blockade calling for reopening of the crossing, in the southern Gaza Strip July 3, 2017. Picture by: IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA/Reuters/PA Images. All rights reserved. On which side of the border were you born? On the side of high security walls, of permits, of strict military controls and interrogation? Or on the side of freedom of movement? The feeling of getting up one morning, pulling on some trainers and running from home into another country seems so liberating that I decided to do it. I’m setting off from my house in Catalunya in the cool hours of the morning to run 111 km north, ending in the Pyrenees with a hot, hard climb to Le Perthus a small French town just over the border.
Article 13 of the Declaration of Human Rights recognises the human right of freedom of residence and movement, to leave any country and to return. So many people around the world do not enjoy this fundamental right.
Described by various world leaders as a “prison-camp or open air prison for its collective denizens”, Gaza is home to 2 million people who do not have the right to freedom of movement. Gaza residents are contained by a high security 60 km wall along the border with Israel, a high security fence along the Egyptian border and a blockade of Israeli warships along its coast. There are two border gates for people. The Rafah border crossing in the south is completely closed for most of the year and when it does open, crossing is limited and very strictly controlled. The Erez Gate crossing point in the north is the only way out of Gaza all year round but less than 1% of the population succeed in leaving each year.
