The Marathon was held 6 days after the Boston Marathon bombing , and many of the runners and organizers met the day before on the Manger Square for a candle light vigil in solidarity with the victims of the bombing . Jibril Rajoub , head of the POC , asked the runners to bow their heads for one minute 's silence in remembrance of the victims before the race began . In the days leading up to the course Israel barred 25 runners from the Gaza Strip to travel through Israel to reach the race in the West Bank . One of the barred runners was Majid Abu Maraheel , a long distance runner who was the Palestinian flag bearer at the 1996 Summer Olympics , and Nader al-Masri , who represented Palestine at the 2008 Summer Olympics . The fact that the race was held in Bethlehem , which is located within Area A of the West Bank , meant that Israeli citizens could not legally participate . Event organiser Signe Fischer made the difficult decision to call Israelis that had registered and ask them not to attend ; however , Israeli Elon Gilad posed as a Canadian in order to participate
Boston Marathon bombing
Boston Marathon bombing
Palestine Marathon