AS THOUSANDS of Palestinians continued to gather at the border with Israel to call for their right to return from the land stolen from them, hundreds of others packed a sports hall in Gaza City at the weekend for a different type of gathering — a bodybuilding competition.

Glistening with oil and toned to perfection, young men with buff bodies lined the stage, flexing their muscles and posing for the judges at a contest organised by the Palestinian Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation.

“I tried despite the difficulties and tragic circumstances, whether social or economic, to continue with this sport until I achieved my goal,” said Hamdi Wadi, who was working out backstage to pump up his muscles before appearing before the jury.

Gaza’s two million residents are often preoccupied with other priorities as the territory has been under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade for more than a decade. Poverty, joblessness, polluted water, chronic power outages and limited freedom of movement characterise life in Gaza.

Despite those obstacles and a lack of adequate training facilities, about 70 vigorous youths participated in the tournament after following a strict diet and training hard.

In contrast to similar events elsewhere in the world, contestants wear modest long shorts consistent with Islamic law and Gaza’s mostly conservative society.

In the end, Abdallah al-Hour, 20, was crowned the winner in front of his home crowd and hoisted on the shoulders of his supporters in the packed, all-male gymnasium.

For the past seven months, Israel has killed hundreds of Palestinians protesting along the border demanding an end to the occupation which prevents them from leaving Gaza, which, according to a recent UN report, is on course to becoming unfit for human habitation by 2020. 

Coach Ammar Abu Karsh said sportsmen in Gaza perform at “impressive levels,” but it is nigh on impossible to travel for international contests.

Rafat Shaheen of the bodybuilding association said he hopes contestants can one day compete abroad and “raise the Palestinian flag in international and Arab forums.”