A massive group of anti-Israel protesters plans to march across the Golden Gate Bridge tomorrow, denouncing what they deem “United States terror.”
Accusing the United States of sponsoring terrorism by supporting “Israeli occupation and aggression in Palestine,” marchers expect to call for an end to the U.S. ties with the Jewish state.
They also plan to condemn the United States’ “war on terrorism,” which was launched by the Bush administration following the Sept. 11 attacks.
A spokesperson said the protesters, which she hopes will number in the thousands, do not intend to stop traffic.
Many in the Jewish community are outright repulsed by the march, but doubt it will garner much support, particularly due to its timing.
“This is happening on Memorial Day weekend, the first Memorial Day after Sept. 11, while our troops are at war,” said Yitzhak Santis, Middle East Affairs director for the Jewish Community Relations Council. “Just how much sympathy do they expect to get?”
Santis called the protest’s sponsors — including Al-Awda Palestinian Right to Return Coalition and Berkeley Stop the War — “the Israel and the United States can-do-no-right crowd.”
They are “ultra-radical, extremist, left-leaning coalitions,” he said. “Their anti-American message ain’t going to play in Peoria or most of the Bay Area.”
However, according to one of the march’s coordinators, who goes by her “indigenous name” Quetzaoceloaciua, people will be coming “by the busloads [to] take a stand against the genocidal war the United States is launching against the world.”
The march coincides with similar protests in Florida and France and is part of a growing international movement, she said. It is expected to begin with a rally at Crissy Field in San Francisco before heading across the Golden Gate Bridge by foot and by car at noon.
Quetzaoceloaciua, coordinator of the Barrio Defense Committee in San Jose, said the Golden Gate Bridge was chosen because it is a symbol of the United States, and Memorial Day weekend was chosen because “it is important to take a stand on such a date — we must.”
In addition to U.S. support for Israel, she named the war on Afghanistan, police brutality against African-Americans and the detention of Arabs and Muslims as current examples of the U.S. terror that the marchers will protest.
But U.S. terrorism dates back much further, she said, to the slaughter of innocent Native Americans by “foreign invaders” and the slavery of African-Americans.
As of press time Wednesday, the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District was preparing to issue a permit to the marchers. The permit would require the marchers follow certain conditions while crossing the bridge, said Mary Currie, the bridge’s spokesperson.
For instance, marchers cannot carry signs or banners, cannot loiter on the bridge or do anything that presents a hazard to bridge users.
Currie explained, “It’s not up to us to agree or disagree with the content of the event. Our role is to ensure the safety of motorists and visitors and to manage the time, location and general manner in which the event is conducted.”
She noted that the event “will slow down traffic,” which is already expected to be heavy due to Memorial Day and the time of day.
Several law enforcement agencies will be on hand in case any of the permit’s rules are violated, including the California Highway Patrol, the United States Park Police, Golden Gate National Recreation Area rangers, the San Francisco Police Department, the Marin County Sheriff’s Department, the FBI and the Coast Guard.