everest peace project summits 10

The Everest Peace Project, an interfaith, international, multicultural embodiment of the power of cooperation, courage and friendship to achieve extraordinary goals, is celebrating the successful summit of Mount Everest by ten of their climbing team yesterday. The team includes South African Selebelo Selamolela, who is only the second black African to ever reach the summit of Everest, David (Dudu) Yifra and Micha Yaniv who are now the second and third Israelis to summit Everest, and Ali Bushnaq, who by reaching beyond the advanced base camp (he had to turn back from his summit attempt due to pneumonia) has climbed higher than any other Palestinian person.

The brainchild of American Buddhist Lance Trumbull, the team previously climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro and will continue to on to Peace Climbs on the highest peaks of each of the other continents. From their website:

"We will climb together not as individuals who belong only to this or that nation or faith, but as a team who all share a common home: the earth. By bringing people together from different cultures we will be setting an inspirational example of courage, friendship and teamwork - and through our Peace Climbs show the world that people from various faiths can live together, work together, and depend on each other while doing something extraordinary..."

They are also raising funds for Room to Read, an organization which has partnered with rural communities all across Asia by providing challenge grants and donating expertise to build schools, establish libraries and fill them with donated books, establish computer and language labs, and provide scholarships to underprivileged girls.

David (Dudu) Yifrach, Ali Bushnaq, and Micha Yaniv holding the Israeli and Palestinian flags joined together

Little update: Yifrach waved this flag on the summit & there's a great photo of that at OnTheFace

(Thank you to my friend and "bnai mitzvah sister" Margie for sending me this story, via the United Religions Initiative)