In March 2018, Alaa al-Dali, a 21-year-old cyclist from Palestine, was looking onward at a protest while clad in his biking attire when an IDF sniper’s bullet struck his leg. This occurred next to his bicycle, from a mere 300m distance between him and the fence that divides Gaza and Israel. At the time, Dali had a promising career ahead, having qualified for that summer’s Asian Games and potentially becoming the first-ever Palestinian cyclist in the Olympics. However, that one gunshot led to a 22cm damage on his right leg, forcing its amputation, thereby ending his dreams of competing in the Asian Games and Olympics.
Fast forward to six and a half years later, Dali is set to participate in the UCI World Paracycling Championship in Zurich next week. Though he might not secure a win in the C2 category time trials on Tuesday or the C2 road race three days later, his participation in these events is already a triumph in itself.
“Raising the Palestinian flag on the international cycling scene is groundbreaking,” shares Karim Ali, who co-founded the Gaza Sunbirds Paracycling team with Dali. “This will be the first time a Palestinian has reached this level of competition. It’s an honour and a significant step.
Dali, who left Gaza in April with his family, including his two young children, still residing there, has travelled to eight different countries over the summer to qualify for the championships despite lacking a firm place to live. Ali proudly notes that in just five months, Dali has achieved what takes other teams and nations years to accomplish.
Part of his successful journey to this level can be attributed to Mark Rohan; a handcycling double gold medallist at the 2012 Paralympics living and coaching in Portugal. Rohan’s coaching cadre at the Zurich competition next week includes two athletes from Norway, one from Iceland, one from Portugal, and Dali.
Rohan recounts the typical way he got involved, stating, “I came across the story of the Gaza Sunbirds and reached out to them expressing my eagerness to assist regardless of my limited capabilities. My coaching is targeted at Alaa, but I equally support his coach Hassan.”
He extols the impressive efforts of the Sunbirds who started from scratch. With no resources, they had to rely on aid workers surreptitiously bringing in bicycle components. Discarded bicycles in Israel were fetched and repurposed into competitive pieces. They had such scarce utilities that they had to attach cyclists’ feet to the pedals with duct tape. The journey for them has been a tough one, he reiterates.
The turning point was when Dali was apprehended at The Great March of Return protest in 2018, a movement lasted for nine months where Gazans demanded to reclaim their ancestral lands from which they had been evicted in 1948. Dressed in his cycling kit, Dali felt his active participation in the protest made him a conspicuous target for the IDF sniper.
The UN’s official analysis of the demonstrations revealed targeted shootings by the IDF at protesters’ legs, resulting in 156 amputations, Dali’s included.
In his following conversation with Al-Jazeera, Dali sensitively narrated his plea to the doctor to attempt all possible treatments before resorting to amputation, as his sports career hinged on his agility. After spending over a week undergoing surgeries and experiencing excruciating pain due to the bullet shards lodged in his leg, he was left with an unbearable choice – his leg or his life. After considerable pondering, he resolved to subject himself to the amputation, a decision he found immensely difficult.
Despite the challenges, Dali remained steadfast and committed himself to paracycling over a span of a few months. He acknowledged the high amputee population in the Gaza Strip and saw it as an opportunity to form a paracycling team. A short film was produced in Arabic documenting his journey. The task of translating the film into English fell onto the lap of a 19-year-old London-based student, Karim Ali, who had Cypriot Palestinian roots.
Ali described translation as a deeply personal experience, requiring a close understanding of the speaker’s emotions and precise expression. This experience caused Ali to resonate with Dali’s story, paving the way for him to pledge his support despite his young age and limited world experience.
This created the foundation for the Gaza Sunbirds. Over the successive years, with Ali in London and Dali in Gaza, they assembled the necessary gear and became operational. The team provided a haven for amputees to learn and eventually, to compete in bike racing.
Ali outlined the first year’s mission, simply to demonstrate the feasibility of training under war conditions – it was not about the numbers. The initial goal was just to obtain the bicycles and maintain consistent training for any duration. The primary concern was to establish the proof of concept: cycling in Gaza was feasible.
Ali emphasised the immense challenge faced by one-legged bike riders in Gaza. Additionally, these amputations tend to occur progressively. Individuals go through multiple surgeries, followed by several complications due to ill-fitting prosthetics.
Given the substantial amount of your own body weight your leg has to bear, how sturdy does it need to be, particularly if you are predisposed to accidents? What happens when following an accident, you receive only limited medical care? Can you then proceed to ride your bike in spite of that? You may be able to lead a normal life with a minor leg injury, but can you participate in high-level sports?”
The Gaza Sunbirds, bit by bit, were able to expand their team. Last year at this time, they had 22 players whose ages ranged from 12 to 50. They were able to get a larger stock of bikes and held training sessions five times a week throughout the Gaza Strip. Their best players, including Dali, had their sights set on qualifying for the Paralympics in Paris, only 10 months away at that point.
But then the events of October 7th unfolded.
From that day on, the world has been witnessing the annihilation of Gaza. A reaction from Israel towards the acts of terror committed by Hamas has left life on the strip unbearable. The death toll, as of this week, stands at 41,252 individuals, among which 16,500 are children. The United Nations report states that more than half of the residential buildings in Gaza have been either destroyed or damaged. Over 90 percent of its residents have been displaced since this conflict began.
Following a grim development, cycling emerged as the best means of transportation within Gaza. As fuel became scarce and with around 65 percent of the roads being bombed, the Sunbirds, initially among the least mobile in Gaza, became one of the most mobile groups. With their sporting activities suspended momentarily, Ali and Dali came up with a plan to transform their team into a delivery service.
“Alaa suggested, ‘Why not collect some bread and distribute it by cycling around?’”, narrates Ali. “We filmed it and posted it online to see if we could garner financial aid. We even created a Just Giving page. The video was a bit unexpected, but it did the work. We have remained committed to this cause.”
Throughout this ordeal, Dali has kept his goal of reaching the Paralympics alive. To compete, he would have to leave Gaza and travel to Europe to participate in the qualifying races. After three months, he, along with three other cyclists and two coaches, managed to cross over into Egypt.
From the moment things started, it has been a life in flux. Their journey led them to Ostend, Belgium, for a World Cup race in May. Despite Dali finishing in the final position in his division, they were recognized. However, the devastating news struck that night, indicating the beginning of the Israeli invasion in Rafah and the subsequent closure of the border, which they had narrowly managed to slip through only weeks prior. There was absolutely no turning back.
Four members among six chose to immediately apply for asylum in Belgium. However, Dali and his coach pursued their course – they were hopeful to receive a wildcard entry into the Paralympics. They competed in Italy, Kazakhstan, and Malaysia, proving their eagerness to secure a place in Paris. But, it didn’t work out in the end. The IPC didn’t issue him a slot. It was always a high-risk gamble, and unfortunately, this time it went wide of the mark.
However, during their journey, he managed to qualify for Zurich. After making a church basement in Padova, Italy, their home for the past two months, they journeyed six hours northwards on Wednesday. They remain unsure about what the future holds for them post the ensuing week. Dali may continue competing wherever possible or wait for the war to end to reunite with his family. At the moment, no one can say for certain.
For the time being, all they can confirm is that on Tuesday and Friday, Dali will join the world-class paracyclists on their high-tech machines and begin cycling with his able leg.
No matter how tough the journey ahead may be, it is unlikely to be harder than what he has already survived.