Anti-Israel activists hit cities across world with economic blockades
Pro-Palestinian activists across the world engaged in protests Monday seeking to cause economic disruption for their host countries to coerce them into adopting anti-Israel policies.
The protest was primarily focused in the United States, where it was planned to fall on Tax Day, the deadline to file income tax returns.
The A15 organizers were in 29 cities, but the event was planned by autonomous groups allegedly in over 50 cities.
“A proposal to coordinate a multi-city economic blockade on April 15th in solidarity with Palestine recently received overwhelming commitments to participate around the US and internationally,” said the anonymous A15 website. “The proposal states that in each city, we will identify and blockade major choke points in the economy, focusing on points of production and circulation to cause the most economic impact, as did the port shutdowns in recent months in Oakland, California, [in the US] and Melbourne, Australia.”
In San Francisco, footage published by the Arab Resource and Organizing Center showed activists linked arms and raising banners across the Golden Gate Bridge to bring a halt to traffic.
“Stop the world for Gaza,” read a large banner stretching across the Californian landmark.
Entry into Chicago O’Hare International Airport was disrupted, the main coordination account for the blockades said on social media. There were 11 protesters from the Chicago Coalition for Justice in Palestine arrested for protesting in the city’s Federal Plaza, according to the US Palestinian Community Network. Activists later rallied at the Chicago Police Department to demand the release of the detainees, chanting “CPD, KKK, IOF [IDF], you’re all the same!”
The Seattle-Tacoma Airport was also blockaded for three hours, leading to around 40 people being arrested, according to organizers.
In Boston, activists threw fake bloody dollar bills inside Chase Bank branches across the city, according to BDS Boston because “JP Morgan Chase is one of the top shareholders of Israel’s largest weapons contractor Elbit Systems.”
In Virginia, Occupation Free DC and other groups blockaded the lobby of the Lockheed Martin office, forming a human chain across the doors. Activists erected a papier-mâché model of a Palestinian olive tree breaking what was supposed to be a Lockheed Martin jet plane.
In Portland, Oregon, the April 15 organizers said they blockaded entrances to an Intel building.
In the UK, Palestine Action painted BNY Mellon’s Manchester office with fake blood and spray painted it with “child killers” and “drop Elbit.” The group also said that it blockaded entry into Kent’s Discovery Park by laying on roads, saying that they were targeting an Elbit factory there. Another group of activists interrupted a Somerset City Council meeting to read the names of Palestinian children allegedly killed by the IDF during the war with Hamas.
Protesters blocked the entrance of the European Commission Building in Dublin, because according to organizers “People living in Ireland are disgusted that the EU continues to be the biggest trade partner with Israel.”
In Genoa, Italy, activists reportedly protested at a Carrefour retail location, placing “free Palestine” stickers on products and linking shopping carts with bike locks.
Spanish groups blocked ports in Barcelona and Tarragona, as was the Athens port according to Greek Pro-Palestinian activist Jodie Jones.
In Adelaide, Australia, on April 15 organizers said that protesters demonstrated at Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s office by pouring blood over fake corpses while dressed as the politician. The Disrupt Wars group claimed on Instagram to have been part of 19 different events in Australia, which they said had resulted in thousands of dollars in fines. According to Fight Together for Justice, protesters caused the closure of a Melbourne shopping mall and blockaded officers of British Petroleum.
A15 Action published footage on Instagram that it said was of a Nigerian pro-Palestinian protest led by the country’s Islamic Movement. They also claimed that a group blockaded the Taiwan-Israel Congressional Association in Taipei. They also published pictures of a sparse Seoul protest in which the activists read poetry in honor of Palestinians.
Amersfoort for Palestine said that they blockade roads in Utrecht and Amsterdam, the Netherlands, because checkpoints were the daily reality for Palestinians.