The Speed Sisters were an all-female,

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

automobile racing team that competed on the

West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

's professional car racing circuit.

History

The team was formed in 2009 with support from the British Consulate in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. Because the British Consulate funded a race car for them, the car flew both Palestinian and

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

flags. Karen McLuskie, a British Consulate representative and head of the British effort to sponsor women's car racing in the Palestinian territories, predicted that 2011 would be the Speed Sisters’ year and more ladies would join the team. The women competed in regular races against men, including the Speed Test, an annual race that began in 2005."Car-racing Palestinian girls speed into record books with first all-women team"
Diaa Hadid, June 26, 2010, AP story published on

Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...

. Team captain, Suna Aweidah, described the racing team as "a dream come true," although she acknowledged that her "family was not happy for me to start participating in this kind of sport." Team member Mona Ennab can boast that she was "the first girl to make the race here in Palestine." The head of the Palestinian Motorsport Federation, Khaled Khadoura, says that the women are serious competitors, and that he is "very proud to see our young women today taking an interest in race car driving, and training in order to improve themselves." One member was ranked among the top ten racers on the Palestinian circuit. The team, which has already broken stereotypes in a male-dominated society, is breaking more by welcoming Sahar Jawabrah, its first member to wear the

hijab Hijab (, ) refers to head coverings worn by Women in Islam, Muslim women. Similar to the mitpaḥat/tichel or Snood (headgear), snood worn by religious married Jewish women, certain Christian head covering, headcoverings worn by some Christian w ...

, or Islamic head scarf. Safety-conscious, she covers the hijab with a helmet when racing. But women who drive race cars are not applauded in all quarters. With

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

growing in popularity throughout the Muslim world, some Muslim clerics have condemned it for being frivolous and un-Islamic. Others call it

haram ''Haram'' (; ) is an Arabic term meaning 'taboo'. This may refer to either something sacred to which access is not allowed to the people who are not in a state of purity or who are not initiated into the sacred knowledge; or, in direct cont ...

, or forbidden according to Islamic law. One shopkeeper in

Ramallah Ramallah ( , ; ) is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the central West Bank, that serves as the administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusalem, at an average elevation of abov ...

told a reporter that it is not an appropriate sport for Palestinian society, and that he, "would not allow my wife, my sister or my daughter to race." In 2013,

Anthony Bourdain Anthony Michael Bourdain ( ; June 25, 1956 – June 8, 2018) was an American celebrity chef, author and Travel documentary, travel documentarian. He starred in programs focusing on the exploration of international culture, cuisine, and the huma ...

took a ride with the Speed Sisters in his

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

award-winning series Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, which aired on

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

. It was the second episode of the second season, titled ''Jerusalem''. In 2015, the documentary film ''

Speed Sisters ''Speed Sisters'' is a 2015 documentary film by Amber Fares that follows the all-female Palestinian racing team the Speed Sisters and explores the social issues surrounding their career. It was pitched at the 2011 MeetMarket part of Sheffield ...

'' was released, which details the exploits of the racing crew.

References

{{reflist, 2 Sport in the West Bank Auto racing teams established in 2009