Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in scores of U.S. cities in response to the National Day of Action to support the people of Palestine. The call was issued 72 hours ago by a number of organizations including the ANSWER Coalition, Muslim American Society Freedom, the National Council of Arab Americans, Free Palestine Alliance, Al-Awda - International Palestine Coalition for the Right of Return and others. Thousands demonstrated in Washington DC, Los Angeles, New York City with the largest protest being in San Francisco.
In a massive show of support for the Palestinian people started to show up in front of the Israeli consulate on Montgomery way before the protest was to start at 5pm. After 2 days of protests here against the genocidal attacks by the U.S. backed Israeli government on Gaza, the San Francisco Police denied protestors adequate space to demonstrate. In front of the consulate the area of the sidewalk and one lane of traffic quickly filled to standing room only capacity.
On the other side of the street more supporters of Palestine chanted down a smaller number of zionists. The police forced organizers to turn off their sound system and threatened to confiscate bull horns. The crowd continued to swell and by six, despite police threats to arrest anyone in the street, the overwhelming numbers began flowing into Montgomery and marching towards Market.
The spirited march, which at its peak was 10,000 strong was led primarily by Palestinian youth with lots of energy and justifyable anger. The march went quickly to Van Ness weaving in an out of traffic before making its way back to UN Plaza for a closing rally...
___________________________________________________
"San Francisco rally protests Israel's Gaza action"
On the "Mercury News" at:
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_11358988
January 2, 2009
January 2, 2009
Horrified by civilian casualties resulting from Israel's assault on Gaza, hundreds of Bay Area residents rallied in downtown San Francisco on Friday, capping a week of raucous but peaceful daily protests.
Demonstrations against Israel's weeklong bombardment of Hamas strongholds have gathered force across the globe, as the Palestinian death toll reached more than 400. Along with Hamas leaders that Israel considers ruthless terrorists, the United Nations estimates that one-quarter of the bombing victims are innocent bystanders, including children.
Those deaths fueled outrage among the protesters Friday, a collection of young Palestinians draped in kaffiyeh scarves, aging Jewish progressives and the region's cadre of long-term peace activists, who marched to the Israeli consulate just before sundown.
"As an American citizen, I can't believe my tax dollars are going to kill my family in Gaza," said Nadeen Elshorafa, a 26-year-old who helped organize the protests. Elshorafa said she has had only limited contact with her extended family, who are huddled in a house with no water and sporadic electricity. "Because they have no water, they can't heat up the food they have, and the food stored in the freezer is going bad."
Despite international calls for a cease-fire, the Israeli military has continued its attack on Gaza, which began Dec. 27, and is now threatening to send in ground troops. Such action is necessary, Israel argues, because of Hamas' unrelenting rocket fire into its southern cities. The rocket fire has terrified residents, sent them scurrying into bomb shelters, and killed three civilians and a soldier in the past week. The assault on Gaza, which has resulted in the deaths of 430 Palestinians, is the most thunderous bombardment on the occupied territories in 30 years.
At noon Sunday, at Stevens Creek and Winchester boulevards, another protest rally will be held, sponsored by South Bay Mobilization and the San Jose Peace and Justice Center. Unlike many pro-Palestinian rallies in the Bay Area, Friday's protest of the Israeli assault appeared to attract little in the way of counter-demonstrations or shouting matches. Peaceful marches and rallies have been held in San Francisco since Sunday, mirroring similar demonstrations in approximately 100 U.S. cities and others throughout the world. Longtime activists said the protests here revealed a new demographic taking to the streets — a decidedly younger group, in many cases invigorated by the campaign of President-elect Barack Obama. Jewish protesters have also rallied in strong numbers, including one man who wore a yarmulke on his head, a velvet skullcap denoting his orthodoxy. Many of the protesters had been out each night since Sunday, calling for an immediate cease-fire and an end to the blockade of Gaza, which has left residents in desperate need of food, fuel and medicine. Wearing a button declaring "Peace, Salaam, Shalom," Ruth Robertson of the South Bay/Peninsula chapter of the "Raging Grannies" activist group said some of her Jewish co-members are conflicted about Israeli-Palestinian relations. But they are clear when it comes to this week's bombardment of Gaza, she said, which has killed innocent civilians along with its destruction of weapons caches and underground tunnels. "Israel is attacking 1,000 times more than they're being attacked," Robertson said. Nearby, Brooke Lober waved a sign stating: "Jews Say Stop Israeli Hate Crimes." Like other protesters, Lober was at her fourth protest so far this week, and intended to keep up her public vigil. "Many, many Jews are disgusted and disgraced by Israel," she said. "It's a horrible bloodbath, so I feel I need to raise my voice."
Click on photo to enlarge it.
On Indymedia at:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/12/28/18556785.php
As the death toll in the Gaza strip rose today with the second round of Israeli bombing, 300 activists and families gathered Sunday in downtown SF to protest the attacks and urge popular support for the people of Palestine.
Organized by the Arab Organizing and Resource Center (AROC) the emergency action set into motion three days of protest. Arab and solidarity activists spoke to the crowd about the current and past situation on the ground in Gaza and spoken word artists made connections between Palestinian and other indigenous struggles against genocide as well as the complicity of US tax payers in the atrocity. As the protest wrapped up in the afternoon, organizers relayed the news that Israeli troops were massing at the border with Gaza for a ground assault against the 25-mile long strip of land that is home to 1.5 million Palestinians. So far, more than 300 Palestinians have died in the bombing raids and with many more bodies still being pulled from the rubble.
The Gaza Strip has been under Israeli occupation for 41 years and in that time Israel has worked to confine the population into an open- air prison. In 2006, Hamas won a stunning victory in the Palestinians elections catching Israel and its US allies by surprise. In response to the democratic election of Hamas, the US and Israel backed a soft coup led by US and Israeli allied members of the Palestinian Authority which currently rule illegally in the Occupied West Bank. When this failed to topple Hamas, Israel moved swiftly to contain the Hamas leadership by hermetically sealing off Gaza.
For the past three years, and with the support of the US and the European Union, Israel has slowly cut off Gaza's lifeline including, electricity, fuel, water and denying humanitarian aid shipments prompting the UN officials to openly declare a Gaza a humanitarian catastrophe.
Despite a six month ceasefire between Hamas and Israel this past year, Israel continued to kill Hamas activists and continued to use deadly collective punishment measures to pressure Palestinians. In response, Hamas two weeks ago called off the ceasefire and resumed its resistance activities. Israel has vowed to used the full might of it's military to "defend" itself and the US has obligingly condoned the Apartheid state's actions.
President Elect Barack Obama has not issued a formal statement from his vacation retreat in Hawaii but during his 2008 campaign he pledged a further $30 Billion in US tax dollars for Israel citing the US' special relationship with the Apartheid State.
There are two more protests this week, Monday Dec. 29th at 5 pm at Montgomery and Market and on Tuesday Dec. 30 at 5pm at the Israeli Consulate, 456 Montgomery St.
_______________________________________________
