No one embodies the spirit of the Gazan people quite like its parkourists. Since 2005, young men from the strip have banded together to turn their besieged home into an obstacle course, flying through the air among its bombed ruins. To many across the world, as clips of their feats spread, they’ve become a symbol of its humanity and its indefatigability during Gaza’s darkest moment than ever before.
In 2014, Palestinian filmmaker Areeb Zuaiter first became entranced by the parkour athletes of Gaza. She was living in the United States, far from her birthplace of Nablus in the West Bank, but in them she saw the defiant beauty of her people. For 10 years, she followed their exploits, befriending key members and documenting their stories with no clear end in sight – until the current Israel-Gaza War began and a tragic moment changed everything.
“In January, we lost the Gaza Parkour member Saeed Al Tattari,” Zuaiter tells The National. “He and his brother were helping people out from under the rubble when another shelling happened and took their lives away – martyred them. It was devastating.
“It was that point when we realised we have to stop filming and show the world what Gaza looked like. We needed to show that there was life – that there were people who were trying to make life out of nothing.”
Those efforts have become the feature-length documentary Yalla Parkour, which is being screened today, for the first time in the Middle East, at the Red Sea International Film Festival. It is a rich document, featuring many of the viral clips that made many of the Gazan athletes famous. It explores the context in which they were filmed as well as the personal journeys of those that shot them.
What struck Zuaiter most was how the young men dealt with the situation as they followed each Israeli bombing campaign by scouting new locations to perform their stunts.
“I started following them after the 2014 offensive, which was 50 days' long,” Zuaiter continues. “And then another offensive happened in 2018 and in 2020. Every time they came back with wide smiles, sense of humour, commenting and laughing on the situations that happened during war.
“It's really fascinating how they react to it, how they come out of it, and how they defy it. It is significant. I don't know if it comes from them getting used to it, or is it just part of their life, or it's sad, but I can’t help but find it heartening.
“Gaza parkourist Abdallah Al Qassab told me, ‘whenever I jumped up in the sky, I felt like I'm free. I'm breathing, I'm living. I come down and I back on Earth, and I see all these real-life obstacles. We're living in the definition of the sport itself. It's jumping from one point to the to the other and defying obstacles’.”
Much of the film follows Ahmed Matar, now 28, who has built a large global following on his Instagram account. Matar, he explains to Zuaiter in the documentary, started filming because he hoped the world would see, so that he may someday work his way into better circumstances abroad.
In 2017, after years of trying, Matar received a visa to attend a tournament in Sweden, eventually gaining residency and finding work as a parkour trainer. While it was a moment of elation for Matar, his new life has become bittersweet: he remains disconnected from his family and his home.
“When we were first filming, I used to say that Ahmed was locked in, but now he’s locked out,” says Zuaiter. “He no longer has access to his family. He no longer has a community. He’s always with them on the phone, but his real life is empty. He’s physically in Sweden, but mentally he’s home. I’ve had that feeling ever since I left Nablus, and I realise that he’s been developing it as well.”
Even though the film is completed, Matar’s story continues. While his family still in Gaza may not be parkourists, they share the defiant spirit that once propelled him into the air as a young boy.
“His mum and the rest of their family have been living in refugee camps and other people’s houses,” says Zuaiter. “But then she decided she doesn’t want that life any more. Their house got bombed and there was only one room left standing, so she decided to go back to that room.
“Now they’re living there, with just a piece of cloth to give them privacy, but they’re fine with that. They are living day by day amid this harsh situation.”
Yalla Parkour screens on Friday at the Red Sea International Film Festival in Jeddah
What is a black hole?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The struggle is on for active managers
David Einhorn closed out 2018 with his biggest annual loss ever for the 22-year-old Greenlight Capital.
The firm’s main hedge fund fell 9 per cent in December, extending this year’s decline to 34 percent, according to an investor update viewed by Bloomberg.
Greenlight posted some of the industry’s best returns in its early years, but has stumbled since losing more than 20 per cent in 2015.
Other value-investing managers have also struggled, as a decade of historically low interest rates and the rise of passive investing and quant trading pushed growth stocks past their inexpensive brethren. Three Bays Capital and SPO Partners & Co., which sought to make wagers on undervalued stocks, closed in 2018. Mr Einhorn has repeatedly expressed his frustration with the poor performance this year, while remaining steadfast in his commitment to value investing.
Greenlight, which posted gains only in May and October, underperformed both the broader market and its peers in 2018. The S&P 500 Index dropped 4.4 per cent, including dividends, while the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index, an early indicator of industry performance, fell 7 per cent through December. 28.
At the start of the year, Greenlight managed $6.3 billion in assets, according to a regulatory filing. By May, the firm was down to $5.5bn.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs: Macan Turbo
Engine: Dual synchronous electric motors
Power: 639hp
Torque: 1,130Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Touring range: 591km
Price: From Dh412,500
On sale: Deliveries start in October
Who is Ramon Tribulietx?
Born in Spain, Tribulietx took sole charge of Auckland in 2010 and has gone on to lead the club to 14 trophies, including seven successive Oceania Champions League crowns. Has been tipped for the vacant New Zealand national team job following Anthony Hudson's resignation last month. Had previously been considered for the role.
match info
Southampton 0
Arsenal 2 (Nketiah 20', Willock 87')
Red card: Jack Stephens (Southampton)
Man of the match: Rob Holding (Arsenal)
Tips to stay safe during hot weather
- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
- Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
- Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
- Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
- Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
- Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
- Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
The specs: 2019 Haval H6
Price, base: Dh69,900
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 197hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque: 315Nm @ 2,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 7.0L / 100km
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How has net migration to UK changed?
The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.
It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.
The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
Basquiat in Abu Dhabi
One of Basquiat’s paintings, the vibrant Cabra (1981–82), now hangs in Louvre Abu Dhabi temporarily, on loan from the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
The latter museum is not open physically, but has assembled a collection and puts together a series of events called Talking Art, such as this discussion, moderated by writer Chaedria LaBouvier.
It's something of a Basquiat season in Abu Dhabi at the moment. Last week, The Radiant Child, a documentary on Basquiat was shown at Manarat Al Saadiyat, and tonight (April 18) the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is throwing the re-creation of a party tonight, of the legendary Canal Zone party thrown in 1979, which epitomised the collaborative scene of the time. It was at Canal Zone that Basquiat met prominent members of the art world and moved from unknown graffiti artist into someone in the spotlight.
“We’ve invited local resident arists, we’ll have spray cans at the ready,” says curator Maisa Al Qassemi of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi's Canal Zone Remix is at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Thursday April 18, from 8pm. Free entry to all. Basquiat's Cabra is on view at Louvre Abu Dhabi until October
Marathon results
Men:
1. Titus Ekiru(KEN) 2:06:13
2. Alphonce Simbu(TAN) 2:07:50
3. Reuben Kipyego(KEN) 2:08:25
4. Abel Kirui(KEN) 2:08:46
5. Felix Kemutai(KEN) 2:10:48
Women:
1. Judith Korir(KEN) 2:22:30
2. Eunice Chumba(BHR) 2:26:01
3. Immaculate Chemutai(UGA) 2:28:30
4. Abebech Bekele(ETH) 2:29:43
5. Aleksandra Morozova(RUS) 2:33:01
