Protesters demanding a cease-fire in Gaza gathered Wednesday night near a fundraiser in San Francisco for President Joe Biden’s 2024 campaign.
Hundreds of activists filled Alta Plaza Park as part of the demonstration organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement and the Party for Socialism and Liberation. Protesters chanted “Free, free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and urged the president to end U.S. aid to Israel.
“While Biden charges donors $100,000 for a ticket to his cocktail party, bombs labeled ‘Made in the USA’ are raining down on civilians in Gaza for the fourth consecutive month, killing over 13,000 Palestinian children and counting,” said Suzanne Ali, a Palestinian Youth Movement member, in a written statement. “How dare he visit San Francisco only to rake in cash, ignoring residents of a city which passed a ceasefire resolution with a supermajority?”
Organizers said they were also concerned by statements from Israeli officials that their military forces could soon launch a ground assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than a million people are reportedly seeking refuge after fleeing Israel’s bombardment of much of the northern Gaza Strip. With Rafah up against Egypt’s border, those people could not go any further south.
“We are demanding that there is a permanent cease-fire now,” said Party for Socialism and Liberation member Ramsey Robinson, who spoke at the protest. “That’s our money, stolen from the people, stolen from the taxpayers, and we want to let Joe Biden know that we know that.”
Biden will reportedly make multiple campaign stops in San Francisco and Los Altos Hills between Wednesday and Thursday. But Robinson thinks that other than “the tiny number of the super-rich,” Biden isn’t popular in the Bay Area.
