Meeting in an extraordinary general assembly on Thursday, July 23, World Climbing’s member federations were expected to consider suspending Israel, Russia, and Belarus, eleven days after a large Palestinian flag was unfurled above Chamonix. All three votes were ultimately dropped in favor of developing a common framework at a later date. Israel therefore retains its status and its flag in competitions, despite international protests.
The large-scale pro-Palestinian mobilization in Chamonix was not enough. On July 12, during the final day of the Climbing World Cup, an enormous Palestinian flag flew between the Grands Charmoz and the Grépon, at an altitude of nearly 11,500 feet. Visible from Place du Mont-Blanc, where the finals were taking place, it had been installed by a group of anonymous mountaineers calling on World Climbing and the French Mountaineering and Climbing Federation, the FFME, to suspend the Israel Climbers’ Association, or ILCA.
That same evening,