Feature Archives

Photographs from Palestine taken by Emily Jacir were recently on display at SFMOMA as part of an exhibit about passages and memory. The title of the photo display was where we come from” and it’s a representation of interviews the artist did with Palestinians in the Diaspora and Palestine. Jacir asked her interviewers to answer the question “if I could do anything for you, anywhere in Palestine, what would it be?” Jacir's works was acquired last year by SFMOMA and will likely be shown again in the near future.

On January 15th, about 45 Palestinian, Jewish, immigrant rights and prison abolitionists chained themselves to the Israeli consulate in San Francisco to protest Israeli apartheid and its current attacks on Gaza. The protesters called for an immediate ceasefire; the opening of land, sea, and air borders to allow in emergency supplies; and an end to US financial and political support for Israel.

On Sunday, January 11, more than a thousand people demonstrated against Israeli attacks on Gaza in a suburban shopping district in San Jose, California. This was the second Sunday in a row that demonstrators, many dressed in the colors of the Palestinian flag, started their protest by chanting and wielding signs in front of a typical 1960's era shopping strip. They then stopped traffic as they filled the streets a block away in a fashion district featuring luxury retailers.

On Saturday, January 10th there were nationwide protests against the atrocities and occupation perpetrated by the Israeli government in Gaza. The San Francisco protest started in Civic Center at 11am and then thousands of protesters marched through the downtown. More then 850 people have died and thousands have been wounded in Israel's attacks on Gaza. 1.6 million Gazans are living without access to basic services and face constant Israeli attacks in one of the most densely populated areas of the world. On January 8th, the UN accused Israel of purposefully killing its aid workers. The UN has also reported that Israeli troops ordered Palestinian civilians into a house in Gaza City, and then shelled the building 24 hours later. The ICRC has also accused Israel of restricting access to thousands of wounded civilians, including several young children who the Red Cross found living for several days among the corpses of over a dozen dead relatives.

On Saturday January 3rd, Israeli ground troops moved into Gaza, cutting the territory in two and surrounding Gaza City. At least 600 Palestinians have now been killed with thousands wounded and an even larger number left without water and other basic services. As protests occur around the world and many world leaders denounce the massacre, the US is trying to delay a ceasefire and US politicians like NY mayor Bloomberg and Democratic Congressman Gary Ackerman have flown to Israel to show their support for the continuation of the killing.

In San Francisco, an emergency protest took place Saturday at Powell and Market. Over one thousand protested in San Jose Sunday. On Monday morning in San Francisco, a thousand protesters marched from Market and Montgomery to the Federal Building, demanding that Israel halt its invasion of Gaza. A small delegation attempted to enter the Federal Building to deliver a message asking the US government to stop supporting the Israeli military.

As of January 2nd, the Palestinian death toll in Gaza is 428 and is growing as bombs continue to fall. Even while large protests erupt on the streets of cities across the Middle East, many see Egypt and other US backed dictatorships in the region as complicit in the Israeli campaign. For instance, when Israel started its latest bombing campaign the Egyptian government was quick to blame Hamas and violently assault Egyptians who protested against Israel's actions.

Protests against the attacks on Gaza have been taking place around the Bay Area and across California. On December 28th, a San Francisco protest took place at Powell and Market at noon. On December 29th, there was a protest at Feinstein's office and hundreds of protesters took over the intersection of Montgomery and Market to protest the Gaza massacre. There was also a protest Monday in San Mateo. On December 30th, as part of a National Day of Action, there were demonstrations at the Israeli Consulate in San Francisco and in downtown Sacramento. On Friday, January 2nd, protesters gathered at Powell and Market at 2:30pm and marched to the Israeli consulate.