Blue-and-White Everest
By Tzadok Yechezkeli/Yedioth Ahronoth
Israeli mountain climber Dudu Yifrach, who arrived last weekend at the peak of Mt. Everest at an altitude of 8,800 metres, initially planned to wave only the Israeli flag. But in the end he decided to wave the Palestinian flag too - as a tribute to his Palestinian comrade Ali Bushnaq, who climbed with him but did not make it to the summit. Yifrach told Yedioth Ahronoth yesterday: "It was the minimum that I could do for him. He gave up on the climb to the peak when he understood that if he continued, he would risk the lives of us all. I'm already thinking of my next mountain," said Dudu, who set out on the trek with a group that included another Israeli, Micha Yaniv. (my translation).
According to the article on Ynet in English, Ali Bushnaq "broke into tears when he heard of Yifrach’s gesture."
“Now he is my brother,” he said.
But according to this article in Gulf News, which has extensive coverage of the Everest Peace Project, it was one of the Israeli guys who cried."The most touching part of this whole afternoon was when Micha called from the North Col from his radio. He did not hear the news that Ali turned around and would not be joining them on their summit attempt. When Ali answered the radio call Micha was shocked - and when hearing the bad news, he started to cry over the radio."
L to R: Dudu Yifrach, Ali Bushnaq and Micha Yaniv
I have a huge soft spot for tough guys who know how to cry.
