Gerd von der Lippe is a professor of Sports Sociology and an author. She has been working on research projects in cooperation with university colleagues in Gaza, and several invitations to present papers on women’s lives in Norway. She is a former Norwegian National Champion at 100 m, 200 m and 400 m sprint and she became famous in Norway when she – under a fake male name – ran in the biggest Norwegian relay race 1972, which was prohibited for women. She was punished for that, but together with other Norwegian champions she was an activist to enable women’s participation in the relay in 1975, which her team won.
More recently, Gerd worked on the case of Mahmoud Sarsak, a Palestinian football player detained by Israel and released after a long hunger strike in 2012. She is also a member of the national section in the Norwegian Palestine committee and a board member/deputy chair in Ship to Gaza Norway. Gerd can be interviewed in Norwegian or in English.
“I have been in Gaza as a guest of university colleagues and listened to the stories of different people during and after several of the Israeli aggressive bombs. They are my friends, the unknown and silent heroes of Palestine, who need the solidarity of the world.”
Here are two articles that Gerd has contributed to:
Gerd was on board the Freedom Flotilla boats Al Awda in 2018, and Handala from Oslo to Scotland in 2023.