7 000 in Gaza go for record

RAFAH, Gaza Strip – More than7 000 Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip simultaneously dribbled basketballs for five minutes yesterday in an attempt to enter the Guinness Book of World Records, Gaza’s top United Nations aid official said.The event took place on a bombed-out airport runway near the southern Gaza town of Rafah. It was part of the United Nations summer camps for about 250 000 Gaza children.The United Nations and Gaza’s militant Islamic Hamas rulers hold rival summer camps that compete for the hearts and minds of Gaza’s next generation. Almost half of Gaza’s 1.5 million residents are children under 15.Organizers say the United Nations camps try to instil hope in a better future through fun and games, while Hamas’ camps teach anti-Israeli doctrine and military-style marching, along with horseback riding, swimming and Islam. Hamas says about 100 000 children will attend its camps this year.Buses brought children from all over Gaza for yesterday’s basketball bounce at the Gaza International Airport, which has been closed and repeatedly bombed by Israel since the outbreak of a Palestinian uprising in 2000. Dribbling drillAfter Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, Israeli warplanes continued to target the airportas a militant training base.As music blared from loudspeakers, the children awaited a cue from organizers before dribbling their balls.United Nations spokesman Chris Gunness said more than 200 monitors reported that 7 203 children finished the drill. Many tossed their balls in the air in celebration after passing the five-minute mark.Local United Nations chief John Ging said he expected to know in a few days if the children had set the record. The previous record was set in 2007 in Indiana.Some found the event inspiring.“I hope one day I can fly from this airport to the world as a member of Palestine’s national basketball team,” said Salma Hassan, 11.Gunness said a Finnish company donated 60 balls and sold more than 7 000 to the United Nations for 10 euros each, a quarter of the retail price.Gaza’s children set their first world record last year by simultaneously flying more than 3 000 kites, Gunness said. They’ll try to break that record at a United Nations event next week, he said. (AP)