Published on 2/4/2026
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Last update: 13:59 (Mecca time)
The “Palestine Travelers” team succeeded in raising the Palestinian flag on Uhuru Peak, the highest peak on Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, at 6:20 Jerusalem time on Wednesday morning.
The flag was raised at an altitude of 5,895 meters above sea level after a 6-day trip in which 8 Palestinian travelers participated, 7 of whom were Jerusalemites.
Among the participants was the Jerusalemite traveler Ramzi Al-Abbasi, who began his talk to Al Jazeera Net by saying that the peaks attract many people who are naturally inclined to go on adventures, explaining that they – the Palestinian travelers – took it upon themselves to climb the peaks to tell the world that they exist on the map.
He added, “This is the tenth time we have climbed a mountain peak, and during these adventures we meet adventurers from different countries. We believe that this is an opportunity to get to know people from different parts of the world. We share our news with them and they share their news with us.”
Many are in solidarity
Al-Abbasi confirmed that during their trip they met many people in solidarity with the Palestinian cause, and the Palestinian backpackers’ camp attracted these solidarity activists because they called their camp “Palestine Camp” and were keen to place the Palestinian flag on top of their tents during hours of sleep and rest.
He continued, “We found in camping an opportunity to bond with people who love us. We met Dutch people who supported our cause. We hosted them for an entire night in our camp. They asked us a series of questions about the situation in Palestine. We also met Moroccan, Pakistani, German, Tanzanian, and South African solidarity activists.”
He pointed out that the travelers met people from the occupying state, “We refused to deal with them or even greet them even though they repeatedly tried to provoke us and talk to us because we carry the Palestinian flag. They also tried to take pictures with us the moment we reached the summit and while we raised the Palestinian flag, and we categorically rejected that.”
An indescribable feeling
Regarding their feelings at the moment of reaching the “Uhuru” summit, which means “freedom” in the Tanzanian Swahili language, Ramzi Al-Abbasi said that the team’s feeling cannot be described when it succeeded in reaching the fourth highest summit in the world.
He added, “Personal achievement for us is secondary, and our greatest achievement was our ability to challenge and insist on arriving in order to raise the Palestinian flag and deliver a message to the world that we exist.”
When asked about the most prominent obstacles that the team members faced during their trip, Al-Abbasi confirmed that the only obstacle they faced was traveling from Ben Gurion Airport in Lod, where they were treated as “terrorists” and were not allowed to board the plane except with their mobile phones and travel documents.
He continued, “Our search continued for 4 hours, during which we were transferred from one office to another and from one room to another. After this search and confusion, we flew from Lod to Ethiopia and from there to Tanzania, and we did not encounter any significant difficulties after that.”
Previous experiences
The traveler Al-Maqdisi concluded by pointing out that this is the tenth experience for the “Palestine Travelers” team in climbing peaks in the world after climbing “Ararat” peak 3 times, which is the highest mountain peak in Turkey at an altitude of 5,165 meters above sea level.
The team also climbed the base of Mount Everest in Nepal twice, at an altitude of 5,364 metres, and the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro twice, which is the highest volcanic mountain peak on the African continent, at an altitude of 5,895 meters above sea level.
The Palestine Travelers also climbed the summit of Mount Elbrus in the Western Caucasus mountain range in southern Russia, which is the highest peak in Europe at an altitude of 5,642 meters above sea level, and the summit of Mount Toubkal in Morocco, at an altitude of 4,167 metres. Today the team succeeded in reaching the Uhuru summit in Tanzania for the first time.
It is noteworthy that the Palestine Travelers Team was established in 2017, and includes 300 active members, 90% of whom are Jerusalemites. In addition to their hobby of climbing peaks in the world, they organize tours to Palestinian villages displaced during the 1948 Nakba to explore and document them under the slogan “We wander in a land we own.”
