Feature Archives

Events were organized across northern California to commemorate two years of resistance to the Israeli genocide in Gaza. Calls were widely made for an end to the forced starvation of the Gazan population, and for an end to U.S. military aid to Israel. In Oakland, community members marched to demand an arms embargo; at UC Berkeley, students organized a mass walkout; in Petaluma, activists conducted their long-time weekly picket.

On September 18, a press conference and march were held at Oakland Airport Terminal 1 as part of the first convening of the Oakland People’s Arms Embargo campaign. Recent research has uncovered the airport's role in transporting military cargo to Israel. Since January 2025, at least 280 shipments have left the Oakland Airport destined for Israel's military, which included bomb release units and surveillance systems for F-35 jets.

The ever-present White House Peace Vigil tent, an iconic staple across from the executive mansion for the last 44 years, was removed by National Park Service Police on September 7 by order of Donald Trump. Trump, who claimed to have not previously known of its existence, when informed of its presence, labeled it an “eyesore” and ordered its removal as part of his erasure of homeless encampments in Washington D.C.

Activists on the West Coast from Bellingham, WA to San Diego, CA organized highway banner drops on August 29 to amp up the Global Chevron Boycott, which has been initiated as a priority campaign by Palestine's Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Chevron operates and co-owns fossil gas fields off the coast of occupied Palestinian land that Israel has illegally claimed, and also manages a pipeline that runs from Israel to Egypt.

Over 100 members of Jewish Voice for Peace Sacramento and their allies staged a sit-in in the lobby of Kimpton Sawyer Hotel in Sacramento on August 27 as U.S. Senator Alex Padilla participated as a featured guest in Politico’s corporate funded inaugural California policy summit. The protest was part of a Jewish-led day of action across the state calling on both U.S. Senators from California to stop voting to arm Israel.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an emergency injunction on August 18, blocking the Trump administration from handing Oak Flat over to a private mining company while three lawsuits challenging the land exchange proceed. Without the injunction, the public lands about 40 miles east of Phoenix were expected to be transferred to Resolution Copper, a subsidiary of multinational mining companies Rio Tinto and BHP.

Organized as part of Stop Billionaires Summer, a rowdy "tour of shame" of banking and insurance institutions in San Francisco’s financial district took place on August 18 to shut down business as usual, and emphasize the connections between genocide, the climate crisis, capitalism, exploitation, and oppression. After a sit-in in the lobby of BlackRock ensued, police arrived and arrested demonstrators, taking them away in paddy wagons.