Pro-Palestinian protestors shut down the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco on Monday as part of a global series of actions calling for an end to US military support for Israel’s war effort in Gaza and a ceasefire.
At roughly 7.30 am, over sixty protestors blocked the famous bridge’s southbound span, causing hours of delays for rush hour traffic going into San Francisco.
According to NBC Bay Area, the California Highway Patrol issued a Sig-alert and closed northbound lanes, as well as pedestrian pathways and bike paths, in response to the protesters’ unfurling banners bearing messages like “Stop the world for Gaza.”
About sixty persons had been taken into custody by Monday afternoon when the bridge was fully reopened, according to KRON 4.
Activists also obstructed traffic on several locations on Interstate 880 in Oakland, across the bay. It was stated that a few protestors had shackled themselves to concrete barrels that weighed more than 300 pounds. Police were captured on camera using bolt cutters to free them.
In the meantime, New York was the scene of even more spectacular incidents that afternoon.
Marchers carrying flares, drums, and banners made their way from Manhattan across the Brooklyn Bridge and onto the street.
Most of the protesters were forced off the road by police, and some people were taken into custody.
Later evening, activists congregated in Brooklyn’s downtown and carried on their protests.
The demonstrations were a part of the global A15 campaign, which included protests in places like Athens, Belfast, Sydney, and Barcelona.
“Worldwide economic blockade in solidarity with Palestine and calling for an arms embargo and an end to US tax payer funding for Israel” is the goal of the A15 movement.
With over $4 billion in primarily military aid each year, the US is Israel’s most important military and international ally.
Since the war of Gaza, the US had authorized more than 100 military sales to Israel as of March.
Since Hamas’s surprise strike on October 7, more than 33,000 Palestinians and 1,100 Israelis have died in the conflict; most of the casualties on both sides have been civilians.
Oxfam issued a warning in January, stating that Israel was executing almost 250 Palestinians every day—the highest death toll in a war in the twenty-first century.
It seems inconceivable that the global society
Hamas rejected an Israeli ceasefire proposal on Saturday, claiming Israel had not agreed to calls for more aid, a lasting ceasefire, Israel’s disengagement from Gaza, and the return of displaced Palestinians.
While this is going on, Israel demands the release of all Hamas hostages and declares that it would not stop fighting until the organization’s military is destroyed.
