Sign up for Weekday J and get the latest on what's happening in the Jewish Bay Area.

A controversial anti-Zionist Jewish organization staged a sit-in under the rotunda of a federal government office building in downtown Oakland on Monday afternoon, demanding an Israeli cease-fire in its current war against Hamas.

About 450 demonstrators were arrested after hours of protest, according to Jewish Voice for Peace. Local news site Oaklandside reported that protesters were given citations and released outside the building.

The Department of Homeland Security, which handles law enforcement at the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building where the protest took place, did not immediately respond to a J. request for comment.

Berkeley-based Jewish Voice for Peace is an anti-Zionist organization, meaning it does not support Jewish nationalism, the ideology that led to the formation of the State of Israel 75 years ago.

“We have come to see that Zionism was a false and failed answer to the desperately real question many of our ancestors faced of how to protect Jewish lives from murderous antisemitism in Europe,” JVP’s website states.

JVP’s radical positions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict often face rebuke from American Jews, the majority of whom support the Jewish state. JVP’s most recent statements have focused on Israel’s war against Hamas in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attack when the terrorist group massacred 1,200 people in Israel and took another 240 people hostage. According to the Anti-Defamation League, which tracks JVP’s efforts, the group’s statements after Oct. 7 included that “Israeli apartheid and occupation” were “the source of all this violence”; JVP leadership calling Israel the “root cause” of the attack; and a prominent JVP activist who said the attack was consistent with “Palestinians’ right to resist.”

While reliable polling data on American Jews’ support for Zionism is sparse, relevant surveys show a strong majority of American Jews feel a connection to Israel.

A 2021 survey from the Pew Research Center showed that 45% of U.S. Jewish adults feel “caring about Israel is ‘essential’ to what being Jewish means.” An additional 37% said caring about Israel is “important, but not essential,’” according to the survey.

In the Bay Area, a 2022 survey conducted by EMC Research and commissioned by the Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area showed that 89% of respondents agreed that “Israel has the right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state,” a view consistent with Zionism.

The Oakland demonstration was co-organized by IfNotNow, a left-wing group that opposes Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and much of Israel’s policies though is less clear on its position regarding Zionism. IfNotNow did not immediately respond to a J. request for comment.

On Wednesday afternoon, IfNotNow published a photo from the Oakland protest in a montage under a caption that read, in part, “Which side are you on?”

We're asking you once again: which side are you on? https://t.co/orGIC9oxaj pic.twitter.com/DBsVhq8BtH

— IfNotNow🔥 (@IfNotNowOrg) November 15, 2023

Attendees at the demonstration displayed banners more than 10 feet tall with “Never again for anyone” and “Jews say cease fire now.” They wore black T-shirts that said “Jews say cease fire now” or “ceasefire now.” Protesters sang Jewish songs and danced. Some wore kippot. Almost everyone wore face masks, which many pro-Palestinian protesters have been doing across the country to hide their identity.

Rabbis Lynn Gottlieb and Elliot Kukla attended the event, according to JVP, as did film director Boots Riley.

“I’m here to plead for a ceasefire, to say no genocide in our name, to plead for love over fear, and the value of every human life,” Gottlieb said in a statement.

Calls for an immediate Israeli cease-fire, common in segments of America’s left wing, have won support from 24 House Democrats but have struggled to gain widespread support in Congress.

Opponents point to the fact that a cease-fire would give Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza, the opportunity to regroup and rearm. In interviews, Hamas leaders have pledged to repeat the Oct. 7 attacks if given the opportunity.

Coverage of the event Monday in the secular press avoided discussion of JVP’s controversial status within the mainstream Jewish community. An Associated Press story said the protest was led by “Jewish peace activists.”