Yosemite climbers hang 'Stop the genocide' banner on El Capitan

Emily Weinstein doesn’t know what will happen once her friends complete the rappel down El Capitan, but the Climbers With Palestine co-founder says they’re ready for what awaits them at the bottom. Yosemite Valley.

The four climbers left early Monday morning to scale the granite dome without intending to reach the top of the monolith.

Instead, halfway up the Nose Road, the climbers stopped to unfurl a 25-by-15-foot banner reading “Stop the Genocide” in the colors of the Palestinian flag.

They hung the banner, stayed there all night and made sure it was safe. On Tuesday afternoon, they began their descent as news of their protest began to reverberate through the valley.

While waiting for her friends to come down, Weinstein stopped at a market to buy some “party beers.” The writer and Berkeley resident, who identifies as Jewish American, told SFGATE why the group chose El Capitan.

A person abseiling (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)

“Martin Luther posted his theses on the church door,” she said. “We put our message on the world’s most iconic climbers’ noticeboard.”

A reaction from Yosemite authorities

Since images of the banner appeared online Monday evening, Climbers With Palestine has been awaiting response from Yosemite authorities. They did not inform park officials of the protest and decided to remove the banner a little earlier than planned.

“We did this because there was some sense of threat of retaliation from the park,” Weinstein said.

SFGATE reached out to Yosemite’s spokesperson to understand the legality of a protest like this on El Capitan, but did not receive a response. Although the park prohibits advertising, Weinstein said that does not apply to their activism.

“What would we advertise? It’s not an advertisement,” she said. “This is about exercising our free speech rights as Americans.”

The California-based collective demands “a free Palestine” and began organizing after the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas on October 7 last year. Weinstein co-founded the group with Miranda Oakley, a Palestinian-American climbing guide who lives in the Sierra.

Earlier this year, the group held events in Joshua Tree and Bishop and held another outside of Yosemite on June 15. Weinstein said the public fundraisers, which include Q&As via Zoom with climbers in Palestine, have raised money for the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund and Doctors Without Borders, among others.

“This is just the start of a conversation. We’re looking to open a conversation so we can all talk more about what we can do to quell this genocide,” she said, referring to the campaign Israeli military in Gaza.

Weinstein said she has been climbing for 13 years, but has yet to climb El Capitan.

As he prepared to receive Oakley and the other climbers in the meadow beneath the dome, unsure of how the National Park Service would respond, Weinstein acknowledged that the park might take disciplinary action that could prevent him from attempting the legendary climb. .

“It happened,” she said. “I think it would really suck. I don’t think any of us are prepared for that. We’re trying to take it step by step. We’re in America and we can have due process. We have confidence in the judicial system. “.