Pro-Palestinian demonstrators clogged bridges and roadways across the country Monday in what organizers said was part of a worldwide effort to shut down bustling economic hubs.
Demonstrators hit the streets in California’s Bay Area and upstate New York as well as Chicago and Philadelphia for a global event called the “A15 Economic Blockade” in support of Gaza during the ongoing war with Israel.
Organizers said the goal of the blockade, which derives its name from the April 15 date of the demonstration, is to “jam up trade choke points and disrupt the global economy” so protesters can establish “new fronts against the Zionist war machine.”
“What is happening in Gaza is unbearable,” a female narrator says in a video released last week. “We know that symbolic actions are not enough. We must escalate.”
Dozens of people have been arrested in multiple cities as police gradually cracked down on the protests.
The southbound lane of the Golden Gate Bridge was reopened Monday afternoon following a morning-long blockade where protesters chained themselves to people inside cars. California Highway Patrol said 15 people had been taken into custody.
Just in: Pro-Palestinian protesters have shut down the Golden Gate Bridge.
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Police in nearby Oakland said they were able to open up one lane on Interstate 880 after demonstrators chained themselves to concrete-filled barrels.
Another group of protesters on a different section of I-880 were also cleared out. At least one person was taken into custody, according to police.
In Chicago, authorities said several people were arrested after they blocked the main road leading to the O’Hare International Airport.
The roughly hour-long disruption delayed traffic to the airport. Some passengers were seen ditching their rides to the airport and instead hauled their luggage to the terminal.
Protesters also shut down the Hamilton Fish Newburgh-Beacon Bridge that spans the Hudson River on Monday morning.
Local police said about a dozen people were arrested for closing down the bridge that connects the cities of Beacon and Newburgh, which both sit about 70 miles north of New York City.
Demonstrators in Philadelphia blocked an intersection in Center City. No arrests were announced.
The blockade is the latest protest against Israel’s war in Gaza.
The war started Oct. 7 when Hamas, the terror group that runs Gaza, attacked Israel and killed at least 1,200 men, women and children and took another 200 hostage during an invasion.
Retaliatory attacks from Israel have killed close to 34,000, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. Some of the hostages have been returned to Israel since the war broke out.
Israel was also able to largely repel an attack from Iran over the weekend that involved a barrage of weaponized drones and missiles.
Iran said the attack was in response to Israel’s targeted bombing earlier this month of an Iranian general who was in Damascus, Syria.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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