- Palestinian-Jordanian mountaineer Mostafa Salameh aims to raise $10M for Gaza
- Carries kite with handwritten notes from Gazan children
- 'My dream, like the dreams of these children, is to see Palestine free,' says Salameh
As he climbs the world’s tallest mountain, Mostafa Salameh is not just carrying oxygen and gear. He also carries something unusual: a kite filled with handwritten dreams from children in Gaza.
There is Rahat, who dreams of becoming a writer; Ahlam, who wants to be a doctor; Judy, who hopes to be a police officer; and Saleh, who wants to be an engineer to rebuild Gaza.
Some children, however, have far more painful wishes. They simply want to meet their parents in heaven.
Like Munira, who wrote the number “47” — representing the family members she has lost in the war: her mother, father, brother, sister, grandmother and aunts.
“These are not the kind of dreams we normally know. They can break your heart,” the Palestinian-Jordanian mountaineer told Anadolu Agency.
Salameh, who has previously climbed the Seven Summits, said he had vowed never to return to Mount Everest. But the genocide in Gaza tugged at his heart, giving him a renewed sense of duty.
“I think everything that we witnessed — the suffering, especially of the children of Gaza, people who lost their families — I felt useless.
“I wanted to go into Gaza, but I couldn’t.”
Personal struggle
For Salameh, the struggle is personal.
Born to refugee parents who were forcibly displaced from Palestine, he spent his youth in a refugee camp.
This shared history has fueled his drive to use his unique skill set — mountaineering and fundraising — to highlight the human dimension of the conflict.
The expedition is not merely a feat of endurance but also a large-scale humanitarian campaign. Partnering with UK-based Al-Khair Foundation, Salameh aims to raise $10 million for Gazans.
“These are the handwritten dreams here in this kite,” he said, speaking from a high-altitude base camp where he has spent the last month. He plans to fly the kite at the summit.
“It’s very light, but it carries so many dreams that it becomes heavy on the heart.”
He said he chose to climb Everest because it “always attracts attention.”
For what I want to do, "I think it’s worth going to the top of the world,” he said.
He hopes the symbolic journey will encourage people around the world to focus not only on the conflict, but also on the individuals living through it.
“We are here at the base camp — everything is tough: breathing, sleeping, eating. But believe me, it is absolutely nothing compared to what the children of Gaza and Palestinians go through every single day under occupation.”
'Free Palestine'
As a refugee, life was not easy for Salameh.
“I was born in Kuwait, and grew up in Amman, moving between a refugee camp in Jordan and Kuwait.”
After the Gulf War, he had to leave Kuwait. At 19, he worked as a cleaner at the residence of the Jordanian ambassador, where he remained for seven years.
Back then, “my dream was to study.”
He eventually saved enough money for college in Scotland, where he earned a degree and later worked in the food and beverage industry.
“My dream was to become a general manager in a five-star hotel.”
“But everything changed when I had a dream — I was at the top of the world making the call to prayer.”
He had never climbed before, but he attempted Everest in 2005 and 2007, finally reaching the summit in 2008.
At 56, he has another dream.
“My dream, like the dreams of these children, is to see Palestine free. That day will come, sooner or later.”
