[News] Pro-Palestinian demonstrators confront guests at Israel defense gala in San Carlos

[Anti-Imperialist News]

cbsnews.com
<https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/pro-palestinian-demonstrators-rally-israel-defense-gala-san-carlos/>
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators confront guests at Israel defense gala in San
Carlos
Betty Yu
November 5, 2023
------------------------------
Protesters surround pro-Israel event in San Carlos 02:58
<https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/video/protesters-surround-pro-israel-event-in-san-carlos/>

SAN CARLOS -- Pro-Palestinian protesters chanted "shame on you," as guests
arrived in their cars for the annual Friends of the IDF gala at the Hiller
Aviation Museum in San Carlos Sunday.

The fundraiser supports Israeli soldiers on the front lines.

The protest began hours before the event. People carried Palestinian flags
and signs that read "stop killing kids" and "no gala for genocide."

Dozens of San Mateo County Sheriff's deputies in riot gear contained the
crowd.

Tensions rose as tow trucks arrived to remove a few cars blocking Skyway
Road.

San Francisco resident Bianca Fernandez, who is African American, Peruvian
and Native American, brought her wife and stepson.

"We are not Palestinian but we are Indigenous so, with us having gone
through our own hardships and Indigenous folks, our ancestors, going
through the same thing, we are here to show support for the Palestinian
people," Fernandez said.

This is the second protest the family has attended in as many days.

"I felt really good about my first protest because you're protesting about
what's happening in Palestine and to stop it," said 10-year-old Connor.

A few pro-Israel protesters also showed up.

"We just got assaulted, they ripped the flag out of our hands, hit my
friend with a stick and pepper-sprayed us. So I'd rather not say my name
for fear of retribution from this group. This is the scariest time it's
ever been to be Jewish in my life. I have never felt so threatened for the
way I was born."

Pro-Palestinian protesters stood behind barricades, beating drums and
chanting for several hours as the gala went on as scheduled.

Jewish Voice for Peace, a group that claims to stand in solidarity with the
Palestinian freedom struggle, was among the protest  organizers.

"The nicest thing we could say is that it's in bad taste. The Israeli
military has killed over 9,000 Palestinians. This is not a time to be
having a gala," said Lisa Rofel, a national board member with Jewish Voice
for Peace.

Protesters left peacefully just after 8 p.m.

"They're trying to wipe out what's left of them and the land that they have
left and it's not right. We all need to unite together,"  Fernandez said.

KPIX reached out to the gala organizer for comment but has not heard back.

Betty Yu <https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/search/author/betty-yu/>

[image: web-bio-head-betty-yu.jpg]
<https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/search/author/betty-yu/>

Betty Yu joined KPIX 5 in November 2013 as a general assignment reporter.
She spent two years at WTVJ, the NBC-owned station in Miami, as a reporter
before moving to San Francisco.
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