'TO

Vold' Peace

Israeli-Palestinian team goes to end of the Earth to build ties.

RACHEL POMERANCE
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

tion. Some 10 days into the trip, the group anchored
alongside a Ukrainian research station in Antarctica
when the local welcome wagon — two researchers, the
station Chief and cook — dropped by with vodka.
When the only one of the four not named Vladimir
began imitating John Travolta's dance moves in Pulp
Fiction, a raucous party ensued, complete with danc-
ing, stripping and kissing.
"It was like a cooling down of all the emotions" for
the group, who were raw from the trip's physical and
psychological strain, Nathaniel said.
Indeed, the expedition had plenty of rough spots.
Crossing the Drake Passage, which Nathaniel calls the
"largest ships' graveyard in the world," meant enduring
waves nearly 50 feet high and winds up to 80 miles per

New York
ust before news networks flashed footage of
furious Palestinians vowing to avenge Israel's
killing of the leader of Hamas, there was a
more heartwarming story on the Middle East.
A few Israelis and Palestinians were honored in
March by Search for Common Ground, a non-profit
organization dedicated to conflict resolution, for diplo-
macy through sport. Their sport was an extreme one.
On New Year's Day, the group embarked on a 35-
day expedition to Antarctica that culminated in the
scaling and naming of an unexplored mountain. Back
from the pole, the expeditionary group,
known as "Breaking the Ice," realized
they would return to the all-too-familiar `76'
tragedy of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict g7
The endless strife makes members of g
the group want to "stand up and scream 1.
very loud that we would very much like
to see a different world," said Heskel
Nathaniel, who launched the project. An
Israeli living in Germany, Nathaniel said
he felt well positioned and motivated to
organize the project from a "neutral
country:
Being away from Israel during the
intifada, he said, he "felt paralyzed not
being able to do anything" and saw the
Antarctica trip as a way to make a contri-
bution.
Nathaniel teamed up with an Israeli
climber friend, Doron. Erel, to assemble
the mission. Through their connections,
including Israeli journalists working in
Israelis and Palestinians raise their flags in Antarctica.
the West Bank and Gaza Strip, they
found four Israelis and four Palestinians
hour. Almost everyone was seasick during those days,
willing to sail from the southern tip of Chile through
and two of the participants suffered bruises as the boat
the ominous Drake Passage to Antarctica. •
seesawed.
They also organized an eight-person support crew,
There also were political battles — like when Nasser
consisting primarily of Israelis and Europeans. They
Quass, the Palestinian who had been in an Israeli jail,
included a physician, mountain guides, cameramen to
said Jews have no claim to the Temple Mount. "We
produce a documentary and an aide to keep them in
were completely insulted," Nathaniel said.
contact with a coordinating office in Germany via
Avihu Shoshani, the Israeli lawyer who often butted
satellite phone.
heads with Quass, was furious. Haider began to cry.
The hikers included an Ethiopian Israeli who had
The parties separated, avoiding each other until the
lost most of her family trekking across Sudan en route
next evening, when they had to continue navigating,
to Israel, a Palestinian from Jerusalem who had been
Nathaniel said.
jailed for attacking Israeli troops with Molotov cock-
Another incident was naming the mountain, which
tails and a lawyer who served in an elite commando
they ultimately called the "Mountain of Israeli-
unit in the Israeli army.
Palestinian Friendship." A few of the Palestinians want-
Despite their differences, members of the team knew
ed to call it Jerusalem, but the Israelis wanted to avoid
how to "treat each other as human beings," said Olfat
political statements. Other names like Mount Hope
Haider, an Israeli Arab from Haifa. "Maybe the solu-
and Mount Peace already had been used, the group
tion is vodka,"
Nathaniel joked about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, learned.
The team banded together — sometimes literally,
describing an alcohol-fueled highlight of the expedi-

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with ropes — to complete the mission. Erel, the expe-
dition's leader and the only Israeli to climb Mount
Everest, remarked on the bizarre nature of climbing a
mountain at "the end of the world," tied to a
Palestinian whose brother was killed in Lebanon and
another who was jailed in Israel.
But Erel had faith in his partners. "I didn't think for
one moment they were going to cut the rope," he said.
Nathaniel viewed some of the political tensions as a
reflection of the pressures placed on the Palestinians.
The program had the endorsement of Palestinian
Authority President Yasser Arafat, but Quass received a
death threat from the Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigade, the ter-
rorist wing of Arafaes Fatah movement.
The mission had the blessing of U.N. Secretary
General Kofi Annan; the Dalai Lama, Israeli Labor
Party leader Shimon Peres, Jordan's King Abdullah and
other dignitaries.
The $200,000 trip was financed by several businesses
and non-profit groups, including outdoor outfitters
North Face and New-Zealand-based MacPac, as well as
the Germany money-management
firm Arsago and the Peres Center for
Peace.
With the trek now behind them,
Nathaniel and Erel are working to
make "Breaking The ICe" into an
annual program — though not to
Antarctica. The next trip, slated for
March 2005, will be a camel trek
across the Sahara Desert for Jews and
Arabs from several countries.
Launching the program with such a
bold expedition was no accident: The
group wanted a headline grabber to
brand their concept, Nathaniel
explains. Indeed, the story captured
the attention of dozens of internation-
al news networks, including Arab TV
stations.
Now, the group hopes to inspire
children with the example of bold
adventurers who will symbolize a "new
kind of hero," Nathaniel saict. He
explained that the group plans ulti-
mately to create programs to instill
friendship among children from countries of conflict.
In the meantime, the participants say they staying
connected, in the same way they feel their cultures are
destined to do.
At one point on the trip; when the group came to a
particularly scenic spot, the Israelis joked that it would
be a nice area for the Palestinians to build their state.
The Palestinians' response: only if Israel would set up
shop next door.
"In some respects, there is a dependency" Nathaniel
said. In any case, both parties seem to realize they're in
the same boat. I I

For more information about the program and
a diary of the trip, go to
vvww.breaking-the-ice.de

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