Pro-Palestinian demonstrators shut down bridges in Boston and San Francisco amid rush hour Thursday morning, demanding a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) ramps up its military campaign against Hamas following the terror organization’s unprecedented attack on the Jewish state.
On the Boston University bridge, the group IfNotNow, which says it represents members of Boston’s Jewish community, chanted “Cease-fire now!” and demanded that Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., support an immediate cease-fire and use her influence to stop the Israeli government’s military action in Gaza.
HAPPENING NOW: Protesters with signs reading “Let Gaza Live” and “Free the Hostages” have shut down the BU bridge. No traffic crossing from Boston or Cambridge side. https://t.co/FuuG23k2frpic.twitter.com/cfyzuVaU27
Meanwhile, Pro-Palestinian protesters also shut down the Bay Bridge in San Francisco, where President Biden was courting world leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
The San Francisco protest, which was organized by the Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC), was filled with demonstrators chanting “Free Palestine” and “We want justice.” Some protesters chained themselves to the bridge, while others placed themselves in bodybags covered in fake blood, KTVU reported.
“There’s a genocide happening in #Gaza and @POTUS is hosting cocktail parties in #SanFrancisco,” AROC wrote on social media. “Bay Area has shut down the Bay Bridge to demand #CeasefireNOW. No more $ for genocide.”
An Israeli government representative in the U.S. has previously criticized AROC as “vehemently antisemitic” and defended the IDF’s mission in Gaza.
Marco Sermoneta, who serves as the San Francisco-based Consul General of Israel, said, Hamas is “an organization that not only commits war crimes when it shoots indiscriminately at Israeli homes and they continue to fire missiles and rockets, by the way, as we speak.”
“It is also an organization that doesn’t care about the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. And therefore, unfortunately, anything that happens in Gaza, including to the civilians… is squarely the responsibility of Hamas,” he added.
On Wednesday, a pro-Palestinian protest turned violent outside the Democratic National Committee headquarters. The U.S. Capitol Police said roughly 150 people were illegally and violently protesting outside the DNC building, and that six police officers were injured. One person was arrested for allegedly assaulting a cop.
Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) said he was evacuated from the DNC as protests raged.
“Was just evacuated from the #DNC after pro-terrorist, anti-#Israel protestors grew violent, pepper spraying police officers and attempting to break into the building. Thankful to the police officers who stopped them and for helping me and my colleagues get out safely,” Sherman wrote on X.
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