More than 300 athletes joined Team OneFamily at the Marathon this year. Victims of terror and their supporters ran side-by-side, and many more joined the team to cheer the runners on and keep spirits high throughout the day.

It was a show of defiance for terror victims, many of whom were injured or bereaved in Jerusalem. For some, it was a return to the very place where their trauma took place.

“The streets of Jerusalem have seen too many tragedies,” said OneFamily CEO Chantal Belzberg. “Running through these same streets with pride, not fear, is a powerful statement that terrorism won’t succeed, and that we can overcome terror together.”

This year’s team included terror victims Renana Meir, whose mother Dafna was stabbed to death in her own home in 2016; Hadas Mizrahi, who was severely injured and her husband Baruch was killed in a road shooting on the way to the family Seder just before Passover in 2014; and Naftali Moses, whose son Avraham David was killed in the attack on the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva in 2008.

Other terror victims included children from OneFamily’s Youth Division, who ran alongside their counselors and supporters.

“Seeing all of the red OneFamily t-shirts all around was extremely uplifting,” said Renana Meir. “It showed me that people really care, and that is a truly empowering feeling.”

See media coverage of Team OneFamily at the Marathon:

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/226858

http://www.jerusalemnet.co.il/article/52717

http://www.israelhayom.co.il/article/460971

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4936797,00.html

http://www.jta.org/2017/03/17/news-opinion/israel-middle-east/haredi-men-detained-allegedly-en-route-to-disrupt-jerusalem-marathon

http://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/charedi-men-held-allegedly-en-route-to-disrupt-jerusalem-marathon/

http://www.israelherald.com/index.php/sid/252453158

http://forward.com/news/breaking-news/366328/haredi-men-detained-allegedly-en-route-to-disrupt-jerusalem-marathon/