Hundreds of protesters blocked security checkpoints and other parts of the international terminal at SFO for hours on Wednesday morning, demanding an Israeli cease-fire in Gaza.
“Stop the world for Gaza,” read one banner stretched across the entrance to a security checkpoint. Some people chained themselves together. Others blocked escalators, elevators and walkways. A few played snare drums or shouted through megaphones. Outside the terminal, more marched in a circle across car lanes, stopping traffic.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that about 200 protesters arrived after 8:30 a.m.
Many wore T-shirts stating “Stop the world for Gaza” or “Cease fire now.” Some wore T-shirts with “Not in our name,” a slogan often used by Jewish activists protesting Israel’s actions in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
“People of conscience are shutting down SFO San Francisco International Airprt,” anti-Israel activist Ariel Koren wrote in a post on X. “Pres. Biden has funded & enabled 158 days of genocide against the people of Gaza, ignoring millions & millions of voices for ceasefire, leaving the people NO OTHER CHOICE.”
Koren is Jewish and a former Google employee who says the company retaliated against her after she protested its relationship with Israel.
About an hour into the protest, SFO used X (Twitter) to ask passengers to avoid pickups or dropoffs at the international terminal, though the terminal remained open.
Airport spokesman Doug Yakel told J. that employees began rerouting passengers through other parts of the airport as soon as the protests began and that there were “no reports of any flight delays.”
At 11:30 a.m., the airport announced on X that the “A & G checkpoints in the International Terminal are now reopened. Please allow extra time.” It’s unclear whether there were any arrests.