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Jordan summit for Everest 2005: "Dudu and I - A new brother who I will trust my life with"
Sep 2, 2004 11: 03 EST
Lance Trumbull is not giving up his Everest Peace project. The latest addition to the climb was Ali Bushnaq, from Palestine. The team already had Israeli Dudu Yifrah. Ali and Dudu met for the first time in Jordan last month, and Ali documented the meeting in a compelling journal.
An interesting experiment
It's an interesting experiment. Recently there was an expedition called, “Breaking the Ice,” made up of a joint Israeli/Palestinian team who sailed to Antarctica from South America, climbed a small peak a little ways inland, and then sailed back to SA.
How smooth was it? Well, a heated debate arose about the declaration to be read on the summit of their Antarctic mountain, people were leaving the galley, one person ended up in tears, somebody was pissed off when someone else called up Yasser Arafat and so forth. But in the end the expedition succeeded, and the world had a good moment.
Summit in Jordan
Everest is a different story, while the team won’t be contained in such tight quarters, the support needed from teammates, either in the physical sense or even mental will much greater.
On June 24, Palestinian Ali Bushnaq and Israeli Dudu Yifrah met in Jordan to train for the event. Ali Bushnaq wrote a journal on his meeting with Dudu Yifrah. It was the first time they would meet and both were not quite sure what to expect. Here's Ali's story:
Spend the weekend with someone that I was supposed to hate
"It was an extremely hot Thursday afternoon in late June – I had flown from my home in Dubai to Amman , the capital of Jordan to meet and spend the weekend with someone that I was supposed to hate. After all, I am a Palestinian born Arab and he is a Jew from Israel . During the flight over I was thinking that many people would be a little surprised that in just a matter of hours I would be roped together and climbing with an Israeli man and that our lives would literally be joined together.
Only contact through email
I was there to train for an event that will change our lives – and perhaps change the way people perceive Israelis and Palestinians. I was there to learn technical climbing skills and hopefully to become friends with a man I have only had contact through email.
This would be our first of what would hopefully be many training events - for we will be climbing Everest together next spring and this is something that neither of us takes lightly.
Setting: Lawrence of Arabia
Honestly, I was a little nervous and I had plenty of time to think about the various problems and awkward situations that could arise between us as I drove the 350 Kilometer journey south to the mountainous region famous for where the movie Lawrence of Arabia was filmed.
It was now night time, although still plenty hot, and I had finally arrived in Wadi Rum, the place where we were supposed to meet and then climb the following day. I did not know what was going to happen next…but I was ready to meet the challenges that awaited me.
It was midnight and a bit surreal
Midnight was approaching and at any moment I was supposed to meet Dudu. And then, slowly off in the distance four climbers appeared - it was a little surreal as they walked towards me from behind the guesthouse in the dark for they all had their mountain climbing equipment with them.
It was of course, Dudu who had just arrived; he also brought along with him a few friends and some magazine and television people who came to document the event.
Neutral ground in a Bedouin tent
After we introduced ourselves to each other, we all slept in a Bedouin tent and I set my alarm for 5:00 AM to get an early start for our first climb together. However, I awoke earlier than expected when I heard Dudu making some noise around 4:00AM. He was sitting in the dark with his head light on writing in a book; when I asked him what he was writing, he said he was working on the climbing plans for the day. I don't know why but I felt comfort in this.
Arabic coffee
The morning started with Dudu's friends making coffee on a small stove - this surprised me as it was exactly the same as our Arabic coffee. We also had some fresh vegetables for breakfast as they told me it is best to eat fresh vegetables before a climb; and so I thought, well “when in Jordan…” – plus, they are much more experienced than I and have climbed in this area many times before.
Common goal: Mount Everest. Common core: Basic humanity.
Much to my happiness Dudu and I got along great from the beginning and we immediately started speaking with each other like we had been friends for many years. I think part of this was that we both knew that we have a common goal to climb Mt. Everest; and that we also have a more important and in many ways more difficult task at hand: to help bring about peace through our personal example of teamwork and friendship.
The mission of our Climb for Peace is to inspire people across the world and to help change people's perception of what it means to be a Muslim, or a Jew, or a Christian…after all, although we have our differences, we all share a common core: our basic humanity.
We overcame obstacles in our way
I am very happy to say that while Dudu and I were climbing, I already felt that inspiration and the people around us felt it too!
Although I have been to Nepal several times and have climbed in the Himalaya – I do not posses a lot of technical skill. Training in Wadi Rum with Dudu gave me some of that much needed technical experience.
During the first 800 meter technical climb, Dudu helped me overcome several difficult situations by devising a special rope system to lift me over some big sections of rock. And that is how the rest of the next two days went: we would climb together and help each other overcome any obstacles that got in our way. In a word: Teamwork!
Dudu and I
Dudu and I – an Israeli and a Palestinian – climbed together and surmounted the difficulties in the mountains of Jordan that we faced. However, I was a little sad because I knew that the headlines of television and newspapers that weekend across the world would still show images of war and hatred.
But there was none of that here. The images in our hearts and the pictures the cameras would capture would be that of peace and teamwork.
Dudu put his arm on my shoulder
On the final day of climbing and after two days of being together and talking about every subject imaginable, including the political and social problems that face Israel and Palestine, Dudu and I walked back to camp. As we returned Dudu put his arm on my shoulder and said “Ali I am happy that it is you that will climb with us to Everest, we make a good team”.
A new brother - who I will trust my life with
I was very glad to hear these words for in my heart I felt the same way, and I think that my smile said what my words failed to: I have made a new friend, a new brother - a person who I will trust my life with.
It was a moving experience for me and I cannot wait to see him again in September when our team will unite for a training Peace Climb in California and then once again for our main event: our Mt. Everest Climb for Peace in spring 2005.
If this training event in Jordan is any indication, our Climb for Peace will make a positive difference in the world.”
The Everest Peace Project aims to promote peace and religious tolerance. The Climb for Peace expedition is comprised of members from different religions, cultures and countries, coming together to climb Mount Everest. For more information about The Everest Peace Project's Climb for Peace, please go to their website.
Images of Ali and Dudu hangin out in Jordan! Photo by Oded Hefetz, courtesy Everest Peace project
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