Oakland Direct Action to Protest US Aid to Israel

As George Bush met with Ariel Sharon in Washington DC yesterday, local protestors demonstrated their opposition to US support of Israel. In downtown Oakland, at noon, twelve activists walked into the Federal Building, singing songs of peace. Connecting their arms through PVC pipes—decorated with calls for an end to the Israeli occupation, and to US aid to Israel—they “locked down” around the pillars, and effectively occupied the atrium. Simultaneously, two activists scaled lampposts in front of the building, to hang a large banner reading: “No US Guns for Israel’s Occupation.”
Just prior to the Federal Building occupation, protestors gathered for a support rally at Oakland’s 12th Street BART station. Wielding signs and banners, they marched toward the Federal Building, chanting: “Colin Powell has not seen/ send the UN into Jenin/ US dollars funding war/ tell George Bush we’ll take no more!” Around noon, the rally approached the Federal Building, and entered the atrium. Over the course of the day, around a hundred people came to show their support, and listen to speeches, songs, chants, and poetry protesting Israel’s occupation of Palestine, and US support of Israeli actions.
The direct action, and accompanying support rally, were a non-violent response to the US’s unconscionably permissive attitude toward Israeli actions in Palestine. The activists locking down requested to speak with a representative of the state department—specifically one working on policy with Israel—in order to discuss their demands. The focal demand was an end to US aid to Israel, as virtually all of the $3.2 billion per year goes towards bombs, guns, shells, F16s, and military training. Other demands included: applying real pressure to Israel to end the occupation, through closing the US embassy in Tel Aviv and employing economic sanctions; calling for just international solutions, including sending an investigative committee into Jenin, sending an international protection force into Palestine, and insisting Israel abide by international rulings such as the Geneva Convention and UN resolution 242, both of which call for an end to the illegal occupation of Palestine.

At around two o’clock, Chris Amyes, a representative from San Francisco’s State Department’s security service, showed up in response to the lockdown. Amyes conceded that he had no real power over policy, and could not provide contact information for those who did. The activists maintained they would remain locked down until they could speak to someone who did. At around five o’clock, police began sawing the PVC pipes open, and making arrests. In total, eighteen of the protestors were arrested—the twelve locking down, plus five providing support, and one in a halter holding up the banner hanging in front of the Federal Building. In order to arrest the banner-holder, a fire truck was brought in; the heavy truck damaged the sidewalk panels in front of the building. Mainstream news estimates of total rally costs lay at $20,000, including “minor damage,” police and fireman wages. A small price in comparison with the damage leveled by the IDF in Palestine.