On August 1, 2015, hundreds of people got on bicycles on in Edinburgh, Scotland and road for nine days and 435 miles to London, England in solidarity with the Palestinian people. But this effort began almost a year ago, when Dermot MacWard of redspokes.com, an adventure bicycling company came up with the idea and began recruiting riders to do the ride and raise funds. Riders joined throughout the spring and raised more than $80,000 for the Middle East Children’s Alliance’s work in Gaza.

MECA Gaza Projects Director Dr. Mona El-Farra was in the UK for the Big Ride and writes:

On the train from Manchester, England to Edinburgh, Scotland for the send-off of the Big Ride, I could not help thinking of how everyone around me can take for granted basic human rights, like the freedom to travel, that we do not have in Occupied Palestine and besieged Gaza. I thought of the four months I spent trying to travel from Gaza to be next to my daughter in England who was not well. But Israel would not give me permission to leave and Egypt let only a few hundred people through its border each week (which is how I eventually got out). It was four long months where my life was consumed with pain, anxiety and worry.

I thought of thousands of Palestinians back in Gaza who are still waiting for reconstruction of their destroyed homes. I thought of the 400.000 children who are suffering from trauma since last year’s Israeli assault against Gaza. With deep sadness and grief, I remember the nine members of my family who were killed last summer, including five beautiful children alongside the other 546 children who lost their lives. With an aching heart and sad memories I arrived in Edinburgh on August 1 for the Big Ride and found myself among great activists. They were carrying photos of the children Israel killed last summer in Gaza and ready to start the 9-day ride to London to raise awareness about what is happening in Palestine to raise funds to help MECA projects in Gaza.

Activists came from Britain, the U.S., Colombia, France and other countries—men, women and children, ages 15 to 80. Some knew all about Palestine, others were just learning. All of them were ready to get on their bikes to spread the message about the decades of suffering of Palestinian people which began even before Israel was in founded 1948.

I was happy to do some cycling but could not do the whole ride, so I met the Big Ride at a few stops along the way and in London at the end. The riders reached thousands of people and conveyed the political and humanitarian message. We stopped for five minutes of silence at the Westminster Bridge opposite the House of Parliament. Thirty-nine members of Parliament endorsed The Big Ride and thousands of people in the UK and beyond made contributions. The Big Ride broke barriers that separate human beings who should be equal regardless of race, color or religion. We dream of a day when we can welcome cyclists in a free Palestine to enjoy the beauty of our country that has been devastated by long decades of Israeli occupation, disposition, and annihilation.