Photo Gallery Surfing the Strip
Israelis have surfed since the 1950s. Here an Israeli surfer waits for a wave in the Gush Katif settler area of the Gaza Strip in August, 2005 -- shortly before Israel ended its occupation.
Dorian Paskowitz, right, and Arthur Rashkovan, left, co-founded a charity in 2007 called Surfing 4 Peace to bring surfboards to Palestinians in Gaza.
Paskowitz counts as Israel's surf pioneer, and Arthur Rashkovan, pictured, is a prominent young Israeli surfer.
Abu Hasiera and Abu Jayyab were sharing a single board -- for many years the only real surfboard used by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. "They just looked so forlorn," Paskowitz said. "So my son David and I said, 'Well, let's go take 'em some boards.'"
Now around 20 Palestinians belong to the Gaza Surf Club.
Salah Abu Khamil, center, is considered the first Palestinian surfer in Gaza. He started on a homemade board in the early '80s.
Enthusiasm for the sport has spread to younger Gazans like Tareg Naem, left, and Mahmoud El Reyashi.
Ahmed Abu Hasiera, right, with his cousin Mohammed.
"The question is what we can give them, and what they can give in return," says Dorian Paskowitz. "That's the only way."
