Marathon marks a turning point for a Palestinian runner released from an Israeli prison

Mohamad Al-Assi ran beneath the concrete wall as the sun rose over Bethlehem. The road along the barrier separating Israel from the occupied West Bank makes up a stretch of a marathon route that Al-Assi and thousands of others ran on Friday. The event is open to people in other parts of the world running in solidarity with the Palestinians and another, shorter race was happening in Gaza.

By SAM METZ