Say Hello to Palestine's First Skate Park

In July the Israel Defense Forces blew a hole in Aram Sabbah’s leg. Since then, he’s been skating on crutches, which has actually proved to be a pretty good way of learning new tricks. Propping his body up, air-pedaling over the board while it flips, he can hang in the air as long as he wants. The downside, of course, is the “big-ass wound” in the 16-year-old Palestinian’s knee—an unwelcome souvenir of the West Bank’s “Day of Rage.”

“There’s nothing much to say,” he says. “I was throwing stones. I’m out of stones. So I crouched for stones, then BOOM… my leg is numb.”

That was in July, when Aram joined thousands across the West Bank in a march protesting Israeli aggression toward Gaza. Israeli forces clashed with demonstrators at Qalandia checkpoint, injuring more than 200 and killing two, including one 17-year-old. Aram was lucky not to break any bones, but his injury will keep him on crutches for another month—or until he “can’t take any more.” Until then, he’s one of two Palestinian skaters teaching children at Zababdeh’s brand-new concrete skate park.

Although Palestine has played host to the occasional mini ramp and fun box, built by enthusiastic foreigners in need of a place to skate, the 1,000 square-foot site at Zababdeh is the West Bank’s first proper skate park. Opening this week, it was funded and built by SkatePal, a volunteer-run nonprofit founded by University of Edinburgh Arabic graduate Charlie Davis in 2012. It will be run by a small but growing community of Palestinian skaters, including Aram.

Original article by Ben Bryant

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Say Hello to Palestine’s First Skate Park