Athlete puts hostages to the fore in CT

South African-Israeli triathlete Susan Shaff refused to be dissuaded from running the Cape Town Festival of Running on 13 July while wearing a T-shirt bearing “Bring Them Home” and a photo of her friend’s son killed on 7 October 2023.

Shaff always competes with this T-shirt, which also features a yellow ribbon on the back, and she was clear this race would be no different.

“People told me not to wear my usual Magen David with his photo [Shoam Ben Harush] on my T-shirt,” Shaff told the SA Jewish Report. “They said it might cause problems, but I wasn’t going to hide who I am. I wore his face on the front with, ‘Your smile will live on forever’ written across the T-shirt, and added a ribbon on the back saying, ‘Bring Them Home’ to raise awareness of the hostages still being held.”

Shaff grew up in Cape Town, and comes back often with her friend, Martine Ben Harush, to visit Ben Harush’s mother. She noticed that things had changed in Cape Town since the start of the Israel-Gaza war, with more anti-Israel sentiment expressed publicly. Her loved ones were worried for her safety, and suggested against making a scene about Israel.

“I’m not someone who hides my identity,” Shaff said. “I also wanted to prove to those who told me not to do it that fear doesn’t always lead to backlash, and sometimes it’s worth standing up. I wasn’t trying to provoke anyone. What I did felt deeply humanitarian.

“At the start, I felt exposed,” Shaff said, “like I was the only one not hiding. People stared. One man glared. But I was determined. This is how I always run. I got a few sniggers, but also many thumbs up. Near the end, I passed a man with a Palestinian flag, made sure he saw the ribbon, and kept running, it gave me an extra push. I finished proud, hopeful, and surrounded by friends. It was an incredible experience.”

Shaff said she has had a passion for running since the age of 12. “It has always been part of my life. I always wanted to expand it and cycle and do triathlons and things like that. But I never felt that I was good enough or that I could do it.”

However, when her best friend’s son, Shoam, was murdered along with 1 200 other Israelis on 7 October, she said the course of her life, like many others in Israel, changed.

Shoam was shot in the jaw following the unprovoked attack by Hamas terrorists, who infiltrated Kibbutz Kerem Shalom near the Gaza Strip where he was stationed. He died three weeks later from a fatal head wound after putting up a mammoth battle in the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem.

“At first, I just stayed home. I was helping my friend and was in a really bad space. One day, I decided to channel all that sorrow into something healthier. I realised that if we don’t go after our dreams, then what’s the point? So, I went for it. I started triathlons. I could barely swim. But once I made up my mind, I joined a serious training group. We train hard, sometimes twice a day. Since then, I’ve completed two sprint triathlons and run three half marathons, things I never thought I could do. Now I’m training for the Ironman in Israel this January. It’s intense, and something I never imagined I’d attempt.”

For Shaff, running offers a sense of relief and empowerment after everything she has dealt with as an Israeli citizen over the past few years.

“A lot of people I know have channelled things in positive ways. For me, training helps release the frustration and sorrow. It’s a way to cope and feel in control of your pain and your strength. Sometimes you don’t feel strong. When you’re sitting in the mamad [bomb shelter] and hearing bombs around you, you feel vulnerable. But then you get on your bike, ride 80km or 90km, or swim, and it gives you back your power. It’s been deeply therapeutic.

“Whenever I run, especially something big like a half marathon, which is a challenge for me with my knees, I do it in Shoam’s name. He was my best friend’s son, an inspiring, beautiful young man with so much to give. He was deeply loved, and we’re part of a group that keeps his memory alive. Thinking of him while I run gives me strength.”

Shaff believes that having him in her thoughts helps her to run faster and gives her passion for running a whole new purpose. “We must never let those who want to hurt us bring us down. We are stronger and prouder than that,” she said.

“People need to understand that we can’t stay silent or hide who we are. We have to stand up for what’s right. You can’t keep civilians in cages and take hostages, and expect the world to be okay with it. If others accept it, we have to be the ones who say that it’s not okay. I felt like I was running for the hostages, giving them a voice, showing their plight. I believe in that deeply.”