“Becoming the first Arab woman to reach the top of the world was an enormous thrill and a great privilege,” Al-Houby said in the statement.
“I would like to share this triumph with the Palestinian people and all Arabs — especially all the Arab women, young and old, who continue to contribute to the peace and stability of the region we all call home.
“I will never forget the moment when my dream became reality, when I saw the prayer flags flapping in the thin air, marking the summit of the greatest mountain on earth,” Al-Houby said. “Standing on the summit, I looked left to the mountains of Nepal, then looked right to the mountains of China - all of them far, far below. I raised my hands, thanked God and hugged my climbing partners. “When I climb, I send a message to the world: that we Palestinians have the will to live in peace,” Palestinian news agency WAFA quoted her as saying.
Her remarkable feat sent the modest but well-knit Palestinian community in Saudi Arabia into raptures.
“We are a proud people and life under occupation has taught us many a lesson,” gushed Yousef Shehadeh, a public relations consultant based in Jeddah. “I remained glued to television ever since the news was first broken during the day. It’s a big moment for us,” he said.
According to Shehadeh, Palestinians have learned to achieve under extremely difficult circumstances. “The occupation of our country has made us tough in every which way. It has given us that cutting edge in life and we Palestinians always try to go the extra mile to get what we set our eyes upon,” he said. “We love challenges and accept them in a sporting way. The gutsy and brave Al-Houby perfectly describes our attitude toward life.”
Emad Adwan, a Palestinian student at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Dhahran, echoed Shehadeh's words. “Al-Houby has made not just the Palestinians proud but all those good people in the world who support our just struggle for a free land,” he said.
“We are a people whose lands have been stolen, but that has made us more determined. We have dreams too and we leave nothing to chance to realize them. Three cheers to Al-Houby and her grit and determination. She is our star and an inspiration for us all,” he said. “I am missing my home in Hebron. My folks must be jubilating tonight.”
Al-Houby spent 51 days making the climb, which she completed on the morning of May 21, the statement said, adding that she spent two years preparing for her Everest attempt.
A UAE-based mother of two and originally from Jaffa, Palestine, scaled Mount Everest as part of a four-person team, three of whom successfully reached the summit. Since the world's highest peak was first scaled by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953, roughly 100 women from across the world have achieved this astonishing feat.
A trained mountaineer, she is no stranger to the record books. In 2003, she became the first Arab woman to reach Everest Base Camp. She is also the first Arab woman to scale Mount Elbrus, the highest point in Europe, and the first Palestinian woman to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak. To date, she has successfully reached the summit of the highest mountains on five of the world's seven continents.
