How a Palestinian made it to Zurich as a para-athlete

Trying to become a professional cyclist in the Gaza Strip is a crazy undertaking, even without a war. The area is extremely unsuitable for extended training trips. 41 kilometers long, a maximum of 14 kilometers wide, the roads are full of potholes.

Alaa al-Dali didn’t care. The Palestinian studied and helped out on construction projects to earn money, but he actually dreamed of something else since his youth: He wanted to ride a bicycle professionally. Back then, he says, he trained for four to five hours a day, constantly on the same roads: to turning points and back again, again and again.

He came astonishingly far, figuratively speaking. At the beginning of 2018, Dali became national champion at the age of 21 and was scheduled to take part in the Asian Games in Jakarta in the summer. He was unable to accept previous invitations to races abroad due to the travel restrictions that have been in place in the Gaza Strip for years. This time, he hoped, everything would be different.

Although Palestinian athletes lack state recognition, they can occasionally take part in major events; the International Olympic Committee has allowed this since 1995, for example. A year later, two athletes competed in the Summer Games in Atlanta. The Israeli government, already under Benjamin Netanyahu, protested unsuccessfully against the use of the name “Palestine”.

Athletes from the region, whether Israeli or Palestinian, can quickly find themselves in political tensions. It is possible that they are used for propaganda purposes, exploited by their own politicians and criticized by the other side. But here we want to tell the story of an athlete who only ever wanted one thing: to ride a bike. Until fate gave him the toughest tests.

The bullet almost severed his leg

On March 30, 2018, at around 2 p.m., Dali was hit in the leg by an Israeli sniper. On this day, the large protests began along the Gaza border fence. A United Nations investigative commission later recorded the details with morbid precision. The report states: “The bullet nearly severed his right leg just below the knee, destroying the bone and a significant amount of muscle tissue and blood vessels. To save his life, doctors amputated Dali’s leg above the knee. He will not be able to resume his cycling career.”

 

Even at that moment, his thoughts were primarily about sport, as he later said. “It was very difficult, I had the Asian Games in mind,” he says of his memories of the day. And about the amputation decision, later in the hospital: “It was a brutal shock, I was supposed to represent my national team.”

His family wanted to bring Dali to the West Bank for better treatment options. The attempt failed due to travel restrictions imposed by Israel. After days of treatment lasting several hours, the amputation was successful in the poorly equipped hospital in the Gaza Strip. “It was very hard for me to lose a leg,” says Dali today. “But it made me even more stubborn.”

It remained unclear why he was targeted by the shooter. The investigation report states that during a demonstration, Dali stood on a pile of sand in cycling clothing and held onto his bicycle, about 300 meters next to a border fence east of Rafah. The next demonstrator was 15 meters away. Dali posed “no immediate threat of death or serious injury to IDF soldiers.”

Just two months later, Dali tried to get on his bike again without a suitable prosthesis. In addition to his persistence, he has a never-ending optimism. “It was very difficult because no one around me could teach me how to ride a bike with one leg,” he says. Family and friends supported him enormously, as did his coach Abo Ali.

Professionals sometimes do short intervals on one leg to strengthen specific muscles while extending the other leg away from the bike. If you own a racing bike or mountain bike with clipless pedals, you can try it yourself to find out how difficult it is to accelerate in this way and maintain your balance at the same time.

Dali struggled with the problems. The poor road conditions made things even more challenging. In addition, because of Israel’s blockade policy, it is a problem to import cycling material into the Gaza Strip, he says: “What can be done in five minutes in the West takes five weeks for us.” With his stubborn determination to stay loyal to his bike despite his disability, he pushed himself to his limits. But at the same time, his love for his sport may have saved him from falling into an even deeper psychological hole.

Karim Ali learned about Dali from a photographer who visited the Gaza Strip in 2018. The Palestinian, who lives in London, was a product manager in a fintech company and said he was not interested in sports. However, the fate of the bicycle enthusiast from the Gaza Strip touched him. The two men came into contact and founded an organization to support local cyclists, the Gaza Sunbirds. Ali’s business acumen would soon make many things possible for Dali.

In addition to their training, the Gaza Sunbirds began distributing food and medicine in the Gaza Strip on their bikes. To date, they say they have cared for 90,000 people, and they are continuing their commitment even in the current war.

When the ongoing conflict escalated after the Hamas attacks in October 2023, training was no longer an option for Dali. The place where the Gaza Sunbirds kept their bikes was also destroyed, he says. Through a private company, he managed to obtain a visa and escape to Cairo. He left his wife and children behind during the war because he wanted to take part in the Paralympics. That was a more difficult challenge than the amputation.

 

In April 2024, Dali arrived in Cairo, where he immediately resumed training after a seven-month break. He covered almost 70 kilometers on the first day. In the same month he received another visa, this time for Belgium: he was able to complete an international race for the first time at the World Cup in Ostend. A few days later the next World Cup followed in Maniago in Italy.

Dali’s greatest hope was dashed. The performances in Belgium and Italy were not enough to qualify for the Paralympics in Paris. The application for a special permit was also rejected. For the athlete, this was a disappointment that was more difficult for him than would be understandable for people for whom sport is a trivial matter. But once again it was only a short time before an alternative emerged: Dali was given the opportunity to take part in the Cycling and Para-Cycling World Championships in Zurich, which ended on Sunday.

On Zurich’s Seestrasse he fights for every second

In Switzerland it became clear that the athlete, at least at the moment, is not interested in using his appearances for political statements. He consistently declined interview requests during the World Cup week. The quotes in this text come from previous conversations with him. Dali, this conclusion is obvious, wanted to ride a bike in Zurich and nothing else.

He competed at the World Championships in the C2 category, that for athletes with severe disabilities. The definition is broad: It includes athletes with unilateral above-knee amputations like Dali who compete without a prosthesis, but also athletes with multiple amputations who use prostheses. Equal opportunities are not guaranteed.

Despite all other differences, most athletes have one thing in common: they have overcome existential blows of fate. The Zurich world champion in the C2 time trial, Ewoud Vromant from Belgium, had to have his right leg amputated eleven years ago after suffering from cancer.

As Dali got closer to the finish in his fight against the clock on the 18.8 kilometer long course on Lake Zurich, he balanced his bike in wide swings from right to left. He was reminiscent of riders who lose all elegance when testing their limits while pedaling up a steep ramp. Dali fought for every second. In the end, we finished 17th with an average speed of 34.938 kilometers per hour. Anyone who tries to maintain this speed on one leg, even for a few seconds, can estimate the performance.

His supporters waved Palestinian flags at Sechseläutenplatz. They called out his name. When he reached the finish line, Dali sat down in silence on the Seestrasse alongside other athletes from all over the world. Together they enjoyed the feeling familiar to athletes when effort gives way to satisfaction. Dali was finally one of them.

Collaboration: Jonathan Rashad, Cairo