Feature Archives

On July 30, San Francisco's Two Embarcadero Center building reverberated with the din of clanging pots and pans as protesters marched through the halls of the bottom floor and called out the Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) for its complicity in the Palestinian genocide. They drew an image of a starving child and "bloody" hand prints on the ground in front of the building, driving home the point. A return demonstration at BCG was held on August 9.

Israeli settlers have murdered beloved Palestinian human rights defender Awdah Hathaleen, from the Umm Al-Khair community in Masafer Yatta of occupied Palestine. Awdah, who had flown to San Francisco International Airport in June 2025 for a humanitarian visit in order to share his story and experiences of living under Israeli occupation, was detained and deported back to Palestine, where he was murdered only weeks later.

Scientists have confirmed a dead gray whale that washed up in Richmond died as a result of blunt force trauma due to a suspected vessel strike. The news comes as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released a revised population estimate showing continued decline in eastern north Pacific gray whale numbers, some 13,000 individuals, the lowest since the 1970’s.

On July 25, the Northern California office of U.S. Senator Alex Padilla in San Francisco was the scene of a large and exceptionally noisy protest as hundreds of activists armed with pots and pans called attention to the ongoing genocide and the starving of the people in Gaza. After a rally and chalking of the sidewalk outside the building, protesters marched to join an ongoing action at the offices of BlackRock.

On July 23, activists blocked the entryways of the global headquarters of Wells Fargo in San Francisco, shutting down the building. As part of Stop Billionaires Summer, the action was organized due to Wells Fargo's investments that have contributed to climate destruction, Israel’s genocide in Gaza, the funding of Palantir and deportations, the privatization of the US Post Office, and the funding of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

On July 19, hundreds of people showed up in Dublin to oppose the establishment of new detention centers in Northern California and across the U.S. ICE has signaled serious interest in reopening the notorious FCI Dublin prison as an immigration detention center. FCI Dublin was closed in 2024 due to powerful survivor-led organizing following years of horrific staff sexual abuse, retaliation, and medical neglect.

Demonstrators in Palo Alto blockaded the offices of data company Palantir on June 26, and returned for a similar action on July 14, demanding the company stop building surveillance systems for ICE and working with the Israeli government. Actions took place in Palo Alto frequently in the years 2016 to 2020, before Palantir moved its headquarters to Denver. Demonstrations have started up at the remaining Palo Alto office in earnest again.