Pro-Palestinian protesters blocked the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco in the western United States on Monday, where aerial images showed the entire bridge was full of traffic in one direction while lanes in the other direction were empty. Some drivers attacked the demonstrators with punches.
Due to a pro-Palestinian protest, both directions of the Golden Gate Bridge were closed. pic.twitter.com/80vMSElPw4
– Twisted Eagle (@twisted_eagle) April 15, 2024
The protest was apparently part of a coordinated day of action in several cities around the world to call for a ceasefire in Israel’s war in Gaza.
The protesters who stopped traffic carried a banner reading “Stop the World for Gaza.”
Protest group A15 Action said it was coordinating a “blockade in several cities… in solidarity with Palestine.” The website said actions were planned as far away as Mexico City, Ho Chi Minh City, Sydney, Athens, New York and Johannesburg.
“In each city, we will identify and block the main bottlenecks of the economy, focusing on places of production and circulation, with the aim of achieving the greatest economic impact,” the group explained on its portal.
Early Monday, a protest blocked a highway leading to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.
Monday’s protest on the Golden Gate Bridge came as the Middle East faces one of its most difficult moments in six months after Iran launched a large-scale airstrike against Israel over the weekend.
The attack was largely repelled by Israel with help from allies such as the United States and Britain.
Israel launched an offensive against Gaza last October after suffering an unprecedented attack by Hamas militants that killed 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli sources.
More than 33,000 people, mostly women and children, have died in Gaza since then, according to the Hamas-controlled area’s health ministry.
With information from Agence France Presse
