Overview

• Jericho native Mohammed Dwedar, 24, was the only Palestinian athlete at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
• He placed eighth in his 800m heat in 1:53.63, finishing nearly nine seconds behind heat winner Max Burgin.
• With no track in the West Bank, he trains mostly on the streets of Jericho and spent the past two months on a track in Saarbrücken, Germany.
• He spoke of day-to-day safety fears, said he avoids the news from home, and appealed to Palestinians to stay safe, keep going, and keep dreaming.
• His race coincided with a UN commission of inquiry declaring genocide is occurring in Gaza—a finding rejected by Israel’s foreign ministry—and he plans to stay in Japan through the meet, return home next Monday, and target the Islamic Solidarity Games in November.