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Crossing the Divide |
Above: At the summit of Mount Sinai where the journey ended. © Breaking the Ice/AbacaPress.com
by Sam Rawlings
This year a team, which included a New York firefighter, an Israeli excombat pilot and a Ukrainian soldier, embarked on a journey across the Sahara Desert. Each had lost friends or family as a result of international conflicts and all had strong opinions on war, peace and Islamic and Western ideology. “Each team member has come from an extreme background which makes them natural enemies, and they will only survive if they can learn to trust each other,” said Heskel Nathaniel, organisation founder.
Beginning in Jerusalem and ending in Tripoli, the group crossed what is considered to be some of the harshest conditions on earth, testing them as individuals and forcing them to cooperate in order to achieve their goal. As the desert expedition progressed, conflict with the local authorities and within members of the group became commonplace, which challenged both their commitment to the mission and sometimes forced them into changing direction. The route was altered after three of the team were denied access over the Libyan border: a reminder of all the suspicion and international tension that the expedition itself was aiming to combat.
During the journey all participants kept diaries which told stories about enlightenment and unity, as they shed their preconceptions and embraced their differences. “When you look people in the eye and get to know one another, you realise there is only one people,” declared Daniel Sheridan, a firefighter who lost over 300 coworkers in the World Trade Centre on September 11th. “Much of the mistrust between our nations results in misinformation on both sides.”
The culmination of the trip was the planting of an olive tree at the foot of Mount Sinai, where Moses received the Ten Commandments. “What better place to plant the tree than somewhere where all three faiths have claims? It’s symbolic of bringing the religions together,” Daniel said.
At the beginning of their journey the participants were made up of races and religions but by the end they were personalities and human beings. The treks may not be a practical solution to global conflict, but they are an invaluable reminder of our humanity. “Having cast a stone of peace into a sea of conflict, this group must now wait to see just how far the ripples will travel,” said Rafael Frankel, a journalist travelling with the team.
Contact: Breaking the Ice,
Gotzkowskystrasse 20-21,
10555 Berlin, Germany
Tel: +49 (0)30 460 600 14
Story from Living Lightly Magazine
This year a team, which included a New York firefighter, an Israeli excombat pilot and a Ukrainian soldier, embarked on a journey across the Sahara Desert. Each had lost friends or family as a result of international conflicts and all had strong opinions on war, peace and Islamic and Western ideology. “Each team member has come from an extreme background which makes them natural enemies, and they will only survive if they can learn to trust each other,” said Heskel Nathaniel, organisation founder.
Beginning in Jerusalem and ending in Tripoli, the group crossed what is considered to be some of the harshest conditions on earth, testing them as individuals and forcing them to cooperate in order to achieve their goal. As the desert expedition progressed, conflict with the local authorities and within members of the group became commonplace, which challenged both their commitment to the mission and sometimes forced them into changing direction. The route was altered after three of the team were denied access over the Libyan border: a reminder of all the suspicion and international tension that the expedition itself was aiming to combat.
During the journey all participants kept diaries which told stories about enlightenment and unity, as they shed their preconceptions and embraced their differences. “When you look people in the eye and get to know one another, you realise there is only one people,” declared Daniel Sheridan, a firefighter who lost over 300 coworkers in the World Trade Centre on September 11th. “Much of the mistrust between our nations results in misinformation on both sides.”
The culmination of the trip was the planting of an olive tree at the foot of Mount Sinai, where Moses received the Ten Commandments. “What better place to plant the tree than somewhere where all three faiths have claims? It’s symbolic of bringing the religions together,” Daniel said.
At the beginning of their journey the participants were made up of races and religions but by the end they were personalities and human beings. The treks may not be a practical solution to global conflict, but they are an invaluable reminder of our humanity. “Having cast a stone of peace into a sea of conflict, this group must now wait to see just how far the ripples will travel,” said Rafael Frankel, a journalist travelling with the team.
Contact: Breaking the Ice,
Gotzkowskystrasse 20-21,
10555 Berlin, Germany
Tel: +49 (0)30 460 600 14
Story from Living Lightly Magazine
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