Protest blocks Central Freeway in San Francisco

Dozens of protesters blocked the Central Freeway Monday afternoon in San Francisco.

They entered the freeway at Market and Octavia in support of Palestinians in Gaza. The San Francisco board of supervisors, in response to the protestors,  has already approved a resolution calling for a cease-fire in Gaza. But the demonstrators want more.

“We are demanding the Biden administration cut aid to Israel, and cut funding to its military,” said Wassim Hage of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center.

Last November, pro Palestine demonstrators shut down the Bay Bridge for hours, resulting in more than 50 arrests. 

San Francisco DA Brooke Jenkins says she plans to prosecute those arrested.

Last week, the Golden Gate Bridge was shut down for about half an hour -- a brief demonstration which resulted in no arrests.

And no arrests were made Monday, though more such protests are planned until the demands of the protestors are met.

“So as long as we see our families killed, hospitals under siege, healthcare workers shot in the ER, then we will inconvenience cities, our state, and our country, until they call for a cease-fire and end all Arms sales to Israel,” said Rami Abdelkarim of the Palestinian Youth Movement.

CHP Public Information Officer Mark Andrews says law enforcement rarely gets advance notice of these demonstrations, and says even if there is a heads up, these road closures are hard to plan for. 

Andrews assures the public there is a protocol in place to get vehicles moving as soon as possible.

“We will create a line to keep protesters from advancing any further. In this instance, a line was established at the South Van Ness off, and on ramps to the Central Freeway,” he said. “The protest was contained to a small area of the freeway – perhaps a quarter-mile.”

The CHP is asking protesters to please find a better place to push their message out because there is always a danger when pedestrians are traveling where vehicles are moving at freeway speeds.