Pro-Palestinian protesters blocked San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge on Monday, completely halting traffic for hours as part of a coordinated day of action against Israel’s war on Gaza.
Protest group A15 Action said it was coordinating a “multi-city blockade… in solidarity with Palestine”.
“In each city, we will identify and block major chokepoints in the economy, focusing on points of production and circulation with the aim of causing the greatest economic impact,” the group said on its website.
Protesters blocking traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge held a banner reading “Stop the world for Gaza.”
Aerial footage showed traffic in one direction on the long bridge at a standstill, while lanes in the other direction were empty, with police in attendance.
A15 Action’s website said the action was planned for places as far away as Mexico City, Ho Chi Minh City, Sydney, Athens, New York and Johannesburg.
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“There is a feeling on the streets in this recent and unprecedented movement for Palestine that escalation has become necessary: there is a need to move from symbolic actions to those that cause economic pain,” he said.
A protest earlier Monday blocked a freeway leading to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.
Israel launched its punitive offensive on Gaza last October following an unprecedented attack by Hamas militants that killed 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli figures.
More than 33,000 people have since been killed in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
Monday’s protest on the Golden Gate Bridge came as the Middle East faced some of its most precarious moments in six months after Iran launched a large-scale airstrike on Israel over the weekend.
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The attack was largely repelled by Israel, with the help of allies including the United States and Britain.
Israel is weighing its response to the attack, which Tehran said was in retaliation for an alleged Israeli attack on an Iranian consulate building in Syria that killed a top general.
US President Joe Biden said on Monday that he was working to prevent the conflict from spreading.
“The United States is committed to Israel’s security. We are committed to a ceasefire that will bring the hostages home and prevent the conflict from expanding beyond what it already has,” Biden told reporters.
Western leaders like Biden are in a quandary over their support for Israel.
While the stance is popular among some voters, others — often younger people — believe Israel’s government is carrying out acts of genocide as part of its assault on Gaza.
The issue is expected to weigh on the ballot in November, when Biden is fighting for re-election against Republican Donald Trump.
Source: AFP