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Eight
Palestinians and Israelis recently climbed an unconquered
Antarctic mountain to prove that “our people can
and deserve to live together in peace and friendship”.
“We
have named it ’Mountain of Israeli-Palestinian Friendship,”’
expedition leader Heskel Nathanial told The Associated
Press by satellite telephone from the peak of the snow-capped,
windy 997-meter (2,770-foot) mountain near the Bruce plateau
in Antarctica.
“By
reaching its summit, we have proved that Palestinians
and Israelis can cooperate with one another with mutual
respect and trust,” Nathaniel said, reading from
a statement agreed upon by the four Jews and four Arabs
in the Breaking the Ice Expedition.
“Despite
the deep differences that exist between us we have shown
that we can carry on a sincere and meaningful dialogue,”
the statement added. “We join together in rejecting
the use of violence in the solution of our problems and
hereby declare that our people can and deserve to live
together in peace and friendship.”
The
expedition, which includes two women, departed in a rented
British yacht on January 1 from Puerto Williams, a Chilean
Navy base on the southern shore of the Beagle channel,
2,050 miles south of Santiago.
The
group reached Antarctica after sailing 600 miles through
some of the world’s most dangerous waters. Then
they trekked for a week on Antarctic soil to the foot
of the mountain.
Nathaniel
said they would remain briefly at the summit and then
come down to their base camp before starting the journey
back, probably on Friday.
“We
are doing fine, in spite of some minor injuries some of
us have sustained,” he said. “But we are mainly
very happy.”
Two
of the Palestinians on the expedition spent time in Israeli
prisons – one for attacking Israeli soldiers and
another who was accused of terrorism. Two of the Israelis
are former members of an elite commando unit.
The
non-profit group Extreme Peace Missions said it organised
the 35-day expedition “out of a belief that overcoming
physical obstacles by working together as a team toward
shared goals can unite the Israelis and Palestinians.”
The
expedition is also sponsored by Israel’s Peres Centre
for Peace. Organisers say it has received support from
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, UN Secretary-General
Kofi Annan, the Dalai Lama, and former Soviet leader Mikhail
Gorbachev.
Associated
Press
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