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Your support is powering our newsroom! <\/strong>Thank you for supporting The Oaklandside and being a part of our community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jewish protesters and supporters were arrested Monday night after occupying the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Building in downtown Oakland for hours, demonstrating in support of a ceasefire in Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The protest started around 4 p.m., when hundreds of people streamed into the federal building, filling the rotunda and hallways, and climbing up to the top level. Wearing shirts that said \u201cNot in our name\u201d and \u201cCeasefire now,\u201d they chanted, danced, and sang Jewish songs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Their calls were aimed at Rep. Nancy Pelosi and President Joe Biden, who\u2019s in San Francisco this week for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Rep. Barbara Lee, who represents Oakland, recently expressed support for a ceasefire<\/a>, joining a small cohort in Congress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Throughout the evening, activists of all ages, some in kippahs\u2014traditional Jewish caps\u2014took turns leading songs and speaking to the crowd circled up in the rotunda. \u201cWe cannot allow Jewish grief to be exploited for violence,\u201d said one of the protesters through a microphone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Organizers of Monday\u2019s sit-in said they believed the action to be the largest Jewish civil disobedience in Bay Area history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn all the years I\u2019ve been doing this work I have never seen thousands and thousands of Jewish people across the United States, and of course others as well, rise up to say, \u2018Not in our name,\u2019\u201d said Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, who sits on the Rabbinic Council of Jewish Voice for Peace<\/a> and said she\u2019s been working on freedom for Gaza and the West Bank for the last 56 years. \u201cI\u2019ve never seen this amount of support.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Jewish Voice for Peace, an anti-Zionist organization, led Monday\u2019s protest along with If Not Now<\/a> and other groups. The organization was behind similar direct actions at the Statue of Liberty<\/a> and Grand Central Station<\/a> in New York City. Monday\u2019s protest was the second major act of civil disobedience in Oakland related to the bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza: On Nov. 3, the Arab Resource and Organizing Center<\/a> helped organize a protest at the Port of Oakland where activists attempted to board a ship<\/a> they said was delivering military supplies to Israel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Around 8 p.m., officers with the Department of Homeland Security issued a dispersal order for the federal building. Shortly after that, they began arresting protesters, leading them out one by one. Organizers had advised demonstrators not to resist arrest. Those arrested were cited and released at the scene, organizers said Tuesday morning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Oaklandside reached out to the Federal Protective Service to confirm how many protesters were arrested or cited Monday, but the agency did not immediately respond. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As of Nov. 14, Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed over 11,000 Palestinians, including thousands of children, according to news reports. More than one million Gaza residents have been displaced<\/a> during Israel\u2019s ground invasion. The Israeli attacks are in response to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, which killed 1,200 Israelis<\/a> and took 238 hostages<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Rupa Marya, a professor of medicine at UC San Francisco, and a co-founder of the Do No Harm Coalition<\/a>, said hospitals in Gaza lack essential equipment to keep patients alive. As an example, she said incubators in a neonatal intensive care unit have run out of fuel, and premature babies are now dying<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cStop sending the weapons, stop sending military aid\u2014we need healthcare here,\u201d Marya said. \u201cI have patients who are dying of cancer who are crying because they don\u2019t know how their loved ones are going to handle the bills after they die. This is the reality in the U.S. But we have billions of dollars to go bomb children in Gaza.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Protester Christy Lubin said she came to the federal building sit-in because she doesn\u2019t want the attacks on Gaza to \u201cbe done in my name, and certainly not with my tax dollars.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe know the U.S. government pulls the purse strings when it comes to Israel,\u201d said Lubin, whose mother Barbara Lubin founded the Middle East Children\u2019s Alliance<\/a>, a Berkeley-based nonprofit providing aid to Palestinian, Iraqi, and Lebanese families and organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She called the crowd gathered in the rotunda \u201cbeautiful,\u201d saying, \u201cIt makes me feel like on some level there\u2019s some hope.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also among the demonstrators was Oakland musician and filmmaker Boots Riley, who wore one of his signature hats and took to a megaphone to urge the activists to continue organizing and remind them that they have power. A video appears to show Riley getting arrested later in the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Monday\u2019s protest was aimed at federal officials, activists have also urged local government bodies to demand a ceasefire. In late October, the Richmond City Council passed one of the first resolutions in the country calling for a ceasefire<\/a> and expressing solidarity with the people of Gaza. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Last week, the board of the Oakland Unified School District was\u00a0expected to introduce a resolution<\/a>\u00a0acknowledging the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, mourning lives lost on both sides of the conflict, and calling for a ceasefire, the release of hostages, and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. But the board adjourned early after some attendees disrupted the meeting to object to the limited public comment period. eli@oaklandside.org<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Eli Wolfe reports on City Hall for The Oaklandside. He was previously a senior reporter for San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight, where he had a beat covering Santa Clara County\u2019s government and transportation. He also worked as an investigative reporter for the Pasadena-based newsroom FairWarning, where he covered labor, consumer protection and transportation issues. He started his journalism career as a freelancer based out of Berkeley. Eli\u2019s stories have appeared in The Atlantic, NBCNews.com, Salon, the San Francisco Chronicle, and elsewhere. Eli graduated from UC Santa Cruz and grew up in San Francisco.More by Eli Wolfe<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n natalie@oaklandside.org<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Natalie Orenstein covers housing and homelessness for The Oaklandside. She was previously on staff at Berkeleyside, where her extensive reporting on the legacy of school desegregation received recognition from the Society of Professional Journalists NorCal and the Education Writers Association. Natalie\u2019s reporting has also appeared in The J Weekly, The San Francisco Chronicle and elsewhere, and she\u2019s written about public policy for a number of research institutes and think tanks. Natalie lives in Oakland, grew up in Berkeley, and has only left her beloved East Bay once, to attend Pomona College.More by Natalie Orenstein<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hundreds demonstrated and scores were arrested in one of the largest acts of Jewish civil disobedience in Bay Area history. by\u00a0Eli Wolfe\u00a0and\u00a0Natalie Orenstein Nov. 14, 2023 (Oaklandside.org) Your support is powering our newsroom! Thank you for supporting The Oaklandside and being a part of our community. Jewish protesters and supporters were… Continue reading ![\"Scores](\"https:\/\/oaklandside.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/IMG_1727-1600x1200.jpg\")
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The Oakland Education Association\u00a0passed a resolution<\/a>\u00a0on Oct. 27 that supported Palestinian liberation, called Israel genocidal and an apartheid state, and called for an immediate ceasefire. The OEA later deleted its statement on Instagram and said it did not accurately represent their resolution. The union\u2019s board approved another resolution last week, encouraging its members to speak up and provide education about Palestinian liberation in classrooms.
Last Friday, a group of Jewish parents and community leaders, including the head of the\u00a0Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area<\/a>, called on the OEA to\u00a0rescind its statements<\/a>\u00a0and said the resolution made them feel unsafe at Oakland schools.\u00a0\u00a0
Residents and activists recently demanded the\u00a0Oakland City Council<\/a>\u00a0pass a resolution calling for a ceasefire. Council President Nikki Fortunato Bas issued a statement yesterday\u00a0supporting a ceasefire<\/a>\u00a0and criticizing the federal government for sending billions in military aid to Israel.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\nELI WOLFE<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
NATALIE ORENSTEIN<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n