In war-torn Gaza, simply walking down the street can mean an encounter with a bomb or bullet. But among the devastation, the Strip’s only urban calisthenics gang – Bar Palestine – are determined to keep practising gravity-defying moves, in spite of the horrors they face
It’s 3pm Friday 11 December 2015, but on the Gaza Strip any thoughts of winding down for the weekend are extinguished by the crack and echo of machine gun fire and the eye-watering sting of tear gas. At Erez – the main checkpoint separating Gaza and Israel – a blood-soaked skirmish is raging between the Israeli Border Police and Gazan protestors. As is becoming tradition on Fridays, a handful of possibly bored, certainly reckless young Gazan men approach the buffer zone, brazenly launching stones at Israeli soldiers on the other side. Today, the soldiers’ patience has worn thin and the altercation escalates into a violent street battle.
Nearby, in the Strip’s Sheikh Zayed sector, four military-aged Gazan men are suspended shirtless from the bombed-out remains of a house. Their bodies are taut with distended muscles, their faces supressing pain through gritted teeth. Finally, after two minutes, one of the men drops to the floor, shaking out his arms.
“That was tough!” he laughs, as his friends climb down beside him.
A photographer steps forward to show them the pictures he’s just taken. As the men crowd around to get a look at the screen, an explosion sounds nearby. The men flinch but make no attempt to run. For the members of Bar Palestine – Gaza’s only street workout practitioners conflict is a way of life and not worthy of interrupting their exercise routine. Indeed, it’s Gaza’s most damaged and dangerous neighbourhoods that provide their very training ground.
MIND OVER BODY
Esta historia es de la edición May 2016 de Men's Health UK.
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