Their press release, as always slavishly copied in Palestinian Arab newspapers, say that Israel is attempting to Judaize Jerusalem through "sport."
They note that the paths of the marathon go from the Knesset to Mount Scopus and pass adjacent to the walls of the Old City, which they say are being turned into a "Talmudic path."
Here's one of the awful photos they reveal showing a landmark that the marathon passes:
The marathon website reveals the route:
JPost reports:
Two weeks ago, the mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, urged the international community to boycott the marathon because it passes through east Jerusalem.
“The marathon is one more attempt by Israeli occupation to erase the Arab identity of Jerusalem,” Hussein said in a statement, according to the news website Al-Arabiya.
The route passes next to the Arab neighborhoods of Sheikh Jarrah and Issawiya as it circles the Hebrew University campus on Mount Scopus and threads through the Old City’s Jewish and Armenian Quarters.
Barkat dismissed the mufti’s comments.
“I am the mayor of all of Jerusalem, and the marathon runs in all of the city, period,” he said.
I'm surprised that the Muslims didn't complain about the "Jerusalem Cat Marathon" mentioned in the JPost - on Purim.
12,000 runners are expected this year.