This amputee Palestinian teen gets a taste of freedom in Parkour
His missing leg won't stop him
Using crutches, Palestinian Mohamed Aliwa leaps from one concrete slab to another, determined that his missing leg won't stop him doing parkour, a sport that brings respite from grim reality in Gaza.
In Gaza, parkour brings youngsters a taste of freedom
The Palestinian teen's right leg was amputated near the knee in 2018 after he was hit by Israeli army fire during protests along the fortified border separating the Gaza Strip from Israel. Along with his lower leg, he lost his dream of being a professional parkour athlete, he said.
His disability couldn’t bring his moves to an end
But watching his friends jumping from obstacle to obstacle, the 18-year-old, who now sometimes makes use of a prosthetic limb, decided that his disability shouldn't bring his moves to an end.
"I asked my friends to help me walk, and little by little I came to move and jump almost like them," he said, talking in a rehabilitation centre which he visits at least once a week.
Parkour: An extreme sport
Parkour, an extreme sport also known as free-running, originated in France in the 1990s.It involves navigating urban obstacles using a fast-paced mix of jumping, vaulting, running and rolling.
Resilience
In Gaza, young people have been practising parkour for years; bounding from ruin to ruin in an enclave pockmarked by three wars between Israel and the armed Islamist movement Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007.
The first Parkour Academy in Palestine
But even the easiest jump carries risks, and that is why Jihad Abu Sultan, 32, opened what he says is the "first parkour academy in the Palestinian territories".
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