Pots and Pans Clang Against Sen. Padilla’s Enabling of Genocide

Photos: Leon Kunstenaar

(San Francisco, July 25) – The French call it a “caserolade,” a casseroling, but it’s not about food, its about their other great love, political protest. Along with pounding drums, hundreds of people brought pots and pans and metal cooking utensils and they made a lot of noise. It would be hard to believe that anyone in the large office building at 333 Bush St. did not notice. Perhaps some office tenants might find the regular disturbances a problem and suggest that Senator Padilla go elsewhere. Antarctica comes to mind.

Unlike in many popular protests, very few people were smiling here. They were angry. Seeing the photos coming from Gaza of parents holding starving children with sticks for arms and legs reminded many older Bay Area people of the images they had seen of the Nazi Holocaust.

When American troops came upon the Ohrdruf concentration camp, Eisenhower brought in photographers to show the world the horrors that had taken place there. He also required Germans from neighboring towns to tour the camp to see what their government had done. After the Mayor of Ohrdruf and his wife were made to visit the camp, they both went home and killed themselves.

California’s two supposed representatives, Senators Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, both recipients of generous AIPAC funding, have no qualms about using their constituents’ tax dollars to buy the bombs that are every day slaughtering Palestinians, including many children. Israel is also deliberately starving Gaza.

Perhaps Schiff and Padillla might, at some future time, have to visit Gaza.

After many rounds of noise making, speeches, and yelling slogans, the demonstration walked to the Blackrock offices, a few blocks away. They joined an action already in progress there for yet more noise making.

With this action, many activist are concluding that our kitchen cookware may have a bright future as a potent tool for social progress.

See all high resolution photos here.