Protests stop SF traffic in its tracks

by Robbie Jackson

San Francisco has a long history of weighing in on world affairs, and that tradition lives on in the present time. Early Monday afternoon the Golden Gate Bridge officially reopened to traffic after a pro-Palestinian protest shut down the famous bridge, causing traffic to stop in both directions for hours, according to the California Highway Patrol. Chopper footage from the local CBS news crew shows no movement in traffic as protesters peacefully protest with large signs that plead for people to “stop the world for Gaza.” 

Many witnesses recall the traffic being backed up through the Robin Williams bridge and past Sausalito. The bridge protest was the second demonstration to impact traffic on Bay Area freeways in one day. The first was a pro-Palestinian protest that successfully closed all lanes on I-880 in Oakland. The group of Oakland protests grew to approximately 300 people over the course of the morning.

Between the two protests in Oakland and San Francisco, 20 people had been arrested. Multiple vehicles that protesters used to block lanes were removed by the city via tow trucks. The charges protestors face include unlawful assembly, remaining at an unlawful assembly, refusing to comply with a lawful order, unlawful stopping on a bridge, unlawfully being a pedestrian on a freeway, impeding an officer, conspiracy to commit a crime and false imprisonment. You may recall that a  similar protest successfully blocked traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge last February. 

In that past demonstration, protesters stopped cars and stretched banners across the roadway denouncing Israel’s bombing of Rafah in the Gaza Strip with huge banners that demanded the U.S. to stop arming Israel. That protest did not result in any arrests and only closed the freeway briefly. This string of strategic public disruptions was planned as part of an “economic blockade” coordinated with similar protests around the nation. 

Similar disruptions have been reported in other major cities, including New York and Chicago. According to members of the A15Action group, the goal is to target “the global economy for its complicity in Israel’s ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people,” and they do not intend to stop there. A protest is rumored to happen at the UN Plaza and Market as well as Hyde streets in San Francisco, and another demonstration at the Tesla factory in Fremont.

 It has been over 190 days since Israel and the US began the genocide of the Palestinian people within reach. Thousands of men, women and children senselessly murdered. We all must fight to make a change and impact the world around us. As one resounding voice, we become too loud to ignore. 

The list of places participating include major cities across the world, such as Mexico City, Mexico; Bogota, Colombia; Medellín, Colombia; Seoul, South Korea; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Taipei, Taiwan; Melbourne, Australia; Johannesburg, South Africa; and many more! If you and/or your friends want to get involved, you can contact the A15 Action group at [email protected]. 

Robbie Jackson is a graduate of the San Francisco Bay View’s Community Journalism Class, which was funded by the California State Library.

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