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Members of the Speed Sisters team and their supporters watch a race in Ramallah.

Zahalka’s father, Khaled, tells a favorite story: One day, years back, he was shocked to discover his new car had gone missing. It did not take him long to work out that his youngest daughter was also gone, and when both car and ten-year- old returned from her joyride, he vowed to nurture her passion. He has given her every resource available to his tight-knit family of six, but his daughter has an expensive gift. He worked his way out of Jenin’s refugee camp and now makes dentures in a clinic. That accomplishment is an inspiration for his daughter. “People here often look down on people from inside the camp,” she says. “But they do not make that mistake around me. The camp provided my father and those around him with the inspiration to study and achieve. He is a son of the camp and that strength is inside of me.”