Thousands of protesters took over the Central Freeway in San Francisco today in a march calling for an end to the Israeli bombardment of Gaza that began three weeks ago after a surprise attack by Hamas.
Since the Oct. 7 Hamas assault that killed 1,400 Israelis, Israel has started a bombing campaign that has, thus far, killed more than 7,700 Palestinians.
Organizers of today’s march said more than 15,000 people took to the streets, moving from a 1 p.m. rally at the Ferry Building and marching two-and-a-half miles to the freeway onramp at Octavia and Market streets.
There, a line of San Francisco police officers initially blocked the entrance, but were quickly overtaken by the crowd. Marchers streamed onto the freeway, cleared of vehicles, and chanted “Ceasefire now!” and “Stop the siege of Gaza now!”
They held signs reading, “Palestine will be free” and “Stop the genocide.” Some carried a makeshift gurney of white-blanketed bodies, like those in Gaza, with red paint to symbolize blood.
Israel’s aerial blitz is increasingly drawing international scorn. The United Nations General Assembly on Friday voted 121-14 for an end to hostilities in the conflict; the United States, Israel and a dozen other countries voted against the resolution. Most Western countries voted to abstain.
Protesters on Saturday pointed to what they called a decades-long occupation of Palestine and blamed the recent bout of violence on that occupation.
“For 75 years, our people have resisted. For 75 years, our people have refused defeat,” said Violette Mansour, an organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement. She stood on the back of a pickup truck outfitted with speakers and a sign reading, “Generation after generation until total liberation.”
The 75 years refers to the time since Israel’s founding in 1948. As many as 750,000 Palestinians were displaced from their homes when the state was founded, in what became known as the “Nakba,” or “catastrophe,” to Palestinians.
After occupying the Central Freeway for half an hour at 4:15 p.m., protesters moved down the 101-South onramp onto South Van Ness Avenue and marched towards 16th and Mission streets.
There, they promised to continue protesting until a ceasefire is declared, and called on attendees to “tell your friends, tell your family” to continue marching. By 5:45 p.m., the crowd had dispersed.
The Palestinian Youth Movement, an international group of young Palestinians, was one of the chief organizers of the rally, alongside the Arab Resource Organizing Center, Jewish Voice for Peace and a coalition of other groups.
The march, called days ago, took on a sense of urgency following the apparent commencement of a ground invasion by Israel. Israeli tanks entered northern Gaza on Friday for the third time, coming after a night of intense bombing and a telecommunications blackout that left residents without working phone or internet connections, according to news reports.
The protest was the largest of several in San Francisco calling for an end to the bombing since the siege began. On Oct. 9, hundreds rallied outside the Israeli embassy. Days later, on Oct. 13, anti-Zionist Jews chained themselves to Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s office at the San Francisco Federal Building, and repeated that action a week later.
Two weeks ago, some 10,000 people marched from the Ferry Building down Market Street, in a protest similar to Saturday’s. And, on Oct. 18, hundreds of students walked out of schools across the city.
Organizers today said they would return to the streets until President Joe Biden and Pelosi call for a ceasefire, a policy that is broadly popular among Americans but that has seen little mainstream political support.
Rep. Cori Bush on Oct. 16 introduced a resolution calling for “an immediate de-escalation and cease-fire in Israel and occupied Palestine.” It has just 18 cosponsors, with little support among Democrats or other representatives.
I’m sympathetic to Palestineans but uncomfortable with the amount of antisemitism in these protests. Hamas is a terrorist organization, and I don’t think Israel is going to back down until Hamas is dismantled or surrenders and frees the hostages.
Perhaps this is naive. Why aren’t people calling for hamas to return the hostages? If they did, I would imagine the bombings would stop?
Because Israel has likely bombed all of the hostages.
Fool, the IDF has already rescued a hostage, and more to come. They are killing hamas terrorists, who are hiding in civilian infrastructure and using the locals as human shields.
So much ignorance here. If you don’t know the situation please refer from commenting. There is enough antisemitism already (much of it coming from “progressives” btw) and you don’t need to add fuel to the fire.
they have agreed to return hostages if the 10,000 political prisoners (on “administrative detention” aka no charge, including women and children) are released
I have attended every cease-fire protest since after October 7. I have never seen a molecule of anti-semitism. And the thousands of self-proclaimed Jews marching within the massive and diverse crowds, carrying “Jews for Palestine”, “Not in our Name”, and all sorts of anti-zionist banners, are a testament to the fallacy of that argument.
You really want to bring attention to your cause, go protest somewhere else. Nobody pays attention to SF protests anymore. Protest in Fremont or Hayward, now that would make the news.
But to protest in support of Hamas is beyond wrong and ignorant.
I didn’t see one banner supporting Hamas. That’s not at all what these worldwide protests are about and it’s disingenuous of you to suggest it. The absurd zionist baby-beheading claims have been thoroughly debunked and the entire world is justifiably aghast at the collective punishment crime now being undertaken by the IDF. So I’m not sure who it is that’s wrong and ignorant.
A fresh tag calling for “DEATH 2 ISRAEL” was still visible on the Central Freeway as of yesterday afternoon.
Right, nothing’s going to raise sympathy for your cause than block traffic like this /s
I wonder what would happen if any of these LGBTQ + residents that are protesting here in SF would go to the Palestinian streets, and see how they are treated there. They would not make it back home. How can the LGBTQ + people help protest for Palestine when those people don’t even like their kind? Do you know where everyone can live together? That place is Israel, where you are all allowed to live together. When you go into a store in Israel, there are all kinds of people in there, not just Israelis. It is not the same the other way around… Why is that?
The same people that don’t want a wall built here on the Mexican border because it excludes people, seem to be the same people that want Palestinians to clear everyone except themselves out. Does that make any sense at all?
Why don’t Palestinians want to live with other people? What do these progressives supporting the Palestinians think of a United States where we kick everyone else out? From the ocean to the ocean, only white people? This is what the Palestinians want, only themselves. Most of these protesters don’t want to get along and to live with others that aren’t like them.
Those LGBTQ + protesters would be killed on first sight while holding a pro Palestinian sign there. The LGBTQ + are welcomed in Israel.
The wall around Gaza was built by Israel to keep Gazans contained. Of course Palestinians want to live throughout their ancestral homeland, and they frequently protest for the Right of Return. Most Palestinians just want basic civil rights. Freedom of movement, freedom from housing discrimination, freedom from police violence. And just a reminder, if you’re Palestinian and LGBTQ, then you are not welcome in Israel, which has its own share of hard-line, orthodox religious right wing zealots. Israel is hardly the land of tolerance.
not one ounce of what you said was true. Just google “Tel-Aviv Pride 2023” and you can see the dark-skinned people amongst all the others , all are welcomed there. There are Arabs in Israel, but there are no Jews in ANY Arab nations… 500,000 have been kicked out of Iran, but you didn’t complain about that. Palestinians only want to live with their own kind, no other people are accepted to co-live with them. Other Arabs don’t want to live with Palestinians either, that is the reason that Egypt and Syria and Jordan won’t accept Palestinians either. You are not weell-researched, you’re just getting updates from 20 second Tik-Tok videos, instead of actually researching what you are fighting for.
joe barrios- thanks for toeing the liberal media bias with this drivel. This “report” is a prime example of false moral equivalencies, ignoring facts, and creating false narrative.
1- hamas and Israel are not equivalent. One is a sovereign state voted on and overwhelmingly approved by the UN in 1948. The other is a terrorist organization that flatly calls for the destruction of Israel and killing of Jews worldwide.
2- where is the blame on hamas for killing Palestinians? hamas keeps its military operations in and under civilian buildings like schools, hospitals and mosques. If hamas didn’t use civilians as human shields, guess what? A lot less civilians would be harmed! 3- hamas has plenty of fuel, food and water for its fighters in their underground tunnels, which could be used to support the locals. Imagine if instead of building over a hundred kilometers (literally) of tunnels, that infrastructure went to the local population.
4- the 1400 Israelis “killed” was a massacre of civilians. The “7000” gazans killed was largely due to hamas using them as human shields. Also “7000” is the number hamas gives to naive journalists. It’s been proven in the past that they are greatly exaggerated, and certainly include hamas militants, which are the legitimate target by the IDF. A prime and recent example is the bogus report on the “hospital” bombing. It’s been widely proven that the rocket was a misfired Islamic Jihad rocket fired from southern Gaza, and it hit the parking lot, and not the hospital itself. The “500 people killed” was a ridiculous number, as the real number of this self inflicted event was under 100.
I could go on, but missionlocal has a habit of not posting my comments. If this comment is not published you will loose a reader, and one that actually lives in the mission.
Saturday’s protest march, compared to previous protests this October, seemed more solemn, even more anguished. Maybe because the number of killings of children by Israel in October alone has surpassed the number of combined killings of children in world conflicts, in all of 2022. And even though protestors were solemn and anguished, the only violence to be seen was carried out by a group of about 10 all-black-clad, full-face-covered, combat-boot-wearing men and women, obvious provocateurs, who were viciously trying to start fights. They were swiftly prevented from doing so and chased down the sidewalks by the organizers’ security. They kept popping up in different places, kept getting chased away. So yes there were terrorists at the march — and they were Israeli/pro-Israeli.
Blaming the Jews for violence against Jews. Where have we seen that before?
Assuming these provocateurs actually exist, how do you know they were Jewish? Or did you just assume they are because they did something you didn’t like?
where did original comment mention Jews?
required reading:
Hamas Charter
https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hamas.asp
Neither the Israelis or Palestinians want to make a peace deal. Now. Sad and deadly for both sides.
A ceasefire or armistice will not work until both sides agree to an effective outline to negotiate for a long term peace.
You would think that at this point in world history the ashes of militarism, nationalism, and religious strife would be in the dust pan.
Except for writing the occasional call for world peace which is underfunded and ignored by so many people who believe there is a right or wrong side. The best course of action for normal people to take is to ignore things that you have minuscule control over and make sure you, family and friends are comfortable, meditate, stay healthy, and have fun.
The vast majority of Israelis and Palestinians want peace.
San Francisco is plagued with a group of worthless progressives who will march about anything.
The nadir was in the summer of 2020 when they went out to march in protest of who knows what, so that they could spread Covid-19 before anyone was vaccinated. That shows you who these people are.
If you really want to do something, do something. There’s a protest march in San Francisco every week about one issue or another. Nobody pays attention anymore. It’s just a performance to make the worthless progressives feel good.
F**k Yes!
This was interesting. I live where they marched by. I happened to be walking to the store and then walked with them. I support their cause; both Hamas and Israel governments are suppressive right wing and no surprise the Hamas were tired of the Israeli oppressive colonialism. Many of the ordinary people who live there regardless of the repressive governments want peace and to get along with each other.
As a gay person , there are conflicts with supporting either side. LGBT rights and treatment of women as less than first class citizens are not good in Palestine, as in the rest of the Middle east area. It’s a problem elsewhere too but, In the Middle East Muslim world Gay people are killed for who they are , and women who protest their fate can be arrested. The USA props the Israeli state with billions $$$ to ensure their dominance and strategic control in the region. Biden when a Senator had said this years ago. The USA would not care if all the Middle Eastern countries blew each other up, but do bc they have a big investment to keep their global power.
There are so many issues here at home chipping away at civil rights that impact everyone -especially all minorities- and extend to issues like abortion rights, freedom of the press, etc. Let’s fight here at home too. I don’t think taxpayers should have to support the USA’s $$$ intervention to ensure their supremacy.
I support the Palestinian cause but with a caveat.
“Queers for Palestine” is about as convincing as “minks for fur coats.”
G, you got to get your head examined. Hamas are the enemy of your and my civil liberties and of course the very existence of Israel. In the 2006 election, the Palestinian people could have set things up for a continued peace process. Instead, they voted for Hamas. This is how we got here.
Palestinians in Gaza felt abandoned by Fatah, who they viewed as corrupt.
“For 10 years Fatah haven’t done anything for us. We have to try Hamas. We can’t say if they will be better but we have to try.” – the Guardian, day before 2006 election
The majority of Palestinians wanted peace, not war.
“An exit poll conducted by Near East Consulting on 15 February 2006 on voters participating in the 2006 PA elections revealed the following responses to major concerns:
Support for a Peace Agreement with Israel: 79.5% in support; 15.5% in opposition
Should Hamas change its policies regarding Israel: Yes – 75.2%; No – 24.8%
Under Hamas corruption will decrease: Yes – 78.1%; No – 21.9%
Under Hamas internal security will improve: Yes – 67.8%; No – 32.2%
Hamas government priorities: 1) Combatting corruption; 2) Ending security chaos; 3) Solving poverty/unemployment
Support for Hamas’ impact on the national interest: Positive – 66.7&; Negative – 28.5%
Support for a national unity government?: Yes – 81.4%; no – 18.6%
Rejection of Fatah’s decision not to join a national unity government: Yes – 72.5%; No – 27.5%
Satisfaction with election results: 64.2% satisfied; 35.8% dissatisfied[36]”
In the West Bank, Fatah kicked Hamas to the curb in 2007. Obviously Fatah had no path to peace, and Gazans were screwed either way. The new and improved militarized barrier was well into construction prior to the 2006 election, and the IDF was dead set on declaring Gaza a hostile territory.
“We can’t say if they will be better”
FAFO. A cornerstone of their agenda was, and still is, to kill all Jews and eliminate Israel. Nevermind how they look upon women, religious minorities and all things LGBTQ. Every voter right from the label could tell what was going to happen.
The Hamas ’88 charter is a big talking point here, but I’m skeptical voters in Palestine even knew it existed.
Islamic fundamentalism is something both Israel and the US find abhorrent (but we are willing to make some exceptions, and overlook some “stuff”).
“Obviously Fatah had no path to peace”. Rhetorically asking: If this was so obviously the case, why did the world powers bother getting involved in putting the Oslo accord together? Are we saying that at the bottom of their hearts, Palestinians are not interested in peace whatever the leadership?