Beirut - Nearly 400 women representing more than 30
nationalities from across the globe started a 'pedalling for peace'
tour from Lebanon Monday to promote peace and an end to violence in
the Middle East.
'We are here to tell the women in the region we want them to live
with their families in peace,' organizer Detta Regan, who is a US
citizen, said.
In April 2004, Regan organized a similar bike ride and gathered
around 270 women from all over the world - including the US, the
Palestinian Territories, Britain and Iraq - to ride bicycles for over
300 kilometres through Lebanon, Syria and Jordan to campaign for
peace and an end to violence in the region.
'Peace is more important now than ever before' Regan said.
'The problems of the Middle East do not just belong to that
region. If we can help bring peace to that part of the world, we may
just help it to spread everywhere.'
Regan stressed that any show of female solidarity is better than
none.
The 2008 Pedal For Peace, organized by Follow the Women group in
the Middle East, was officially launched in Lebanon on Sunday and
will end in the Palestinian Territories on May 14.
The formal opening ceremony took place at the UNESCO Palace in
Beirut.
The bikers visited the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and
Shatilla, which witnessed a massacre during the Israeli invasion of
Lebanon in 1982.
On Monday, the bikers moved into eastern Lebanon, before crossing
the border into Syria.
The women are due to cycle to Damascus and Kuneitra in the Golan
Heights. Kuneitra, a strategic position between Israel and Syria, was
severely damaged in both the 1967 and 1973 wars between the two
countries.
The women's journey also takes them to Jordan where they are due
to take part in a Peace Advocacy cycle ride in Amman.
Follow the Women then crosses the King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge
into Israel and rides on to Jericho, Ramallah and Nablus.
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