[News] BREAKING: As Biden Visits San Francisco, Over 200 Bay Area Residents Shut Down Bay Bridge Demand that Biden Call for Ceasefire and End US Military Aid to Israel

[Anti-Imperialist News]

***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***

November 16th, 2023


Contact:

Rami Abdelkarim, (760) 704-7682

Wassim Hage, (832) 704-7660

Marie Choi, (530) 505-1102


BREAKING: As Biden Visits San Francisco, Over 200 Bay Area Residents 
Shut Down Bay Bridge Demand that Biden Call for Ceasefire and End US 
Military Aid to Israel



Photo and Video for Media Use 
<https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1snv2POojWqN2-eAnGJKDKMn3DcTqFQCt?usp=share_link>


Livestreams:

IG: AROC <https://www.instagram.com/aroc_bayarea/>, PYM 
<https://www.instagram.com/palyouthmvmt/>, APTP 
<https://www.instagram.com/antipoliceterrorproject/>, BAPS 
<https://www.instagram.com/bayarea4palestine/>, CR 
<https://instagram.com/criticalresistance>

FB: Bay Resistance <https://www.facebook.com/bayresistance?mibextid=LQQJ4d>



San Francisco, California- Over 200 Bay Area residents are shutting down 
Bay Bridge demanding that President Biden call for an immediate 
ceasefire and end US military aid to Israel.


“We are beyond grief watching thousands of our loved ones murdered by 
the Israeli military. There is a genocide happening in Gaza, and 
President Biden is hosting cocktail parties in San Francisco right 
now,”  said Aisha Nizar with the Palestinian Youth Movement. “We refuse 
to stand by as our elected officials pay for and cheer on the genocide 
of Palestinians. Biden must call for a ceasefire now.”

A multiracial group of Bay Area residents locked arms and unfurled a 
banner reading “Biden Harris: Ceasefire Now” across all lanes of traffic 
while 200 people held a “die-in”, covering their bodies in white sheets 
and placards that read “11,000 dead”.


According to the Palestinian health ministry, the Israeli military has 
killed over 11,100 people in the past month - that is 1 in every 200 
people 
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2023/gaza-rising-death-toll-civilians/>. 
According to the UN, over 1.5 Million Palestinians in Gaza have been 
made homeless 
<https://www.ochaopt.org/content/hostilities-gaza-strip-and-israel-flash-update-38>due 
to the carpet bombing of their homes.


UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, said 
<https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/09/middleeast/un-rights-chief-israel-hamas-war-crimes-hnk-intl/index.html>that, 
“The collective punishment by Israel of Palestinian civilians amounts 
also to a war crime, as does the unlawful forcible evacuation of civilians.”


Just last week, 3 babies on ventilators in the NICU at Al Shifa hospital 
died 
<https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/11/middleeast/babies-die-neonatal-gaza-hospital-complete-siege/index.html>due 
to Israel’s bombardment of hospitals and another 36 babies had to be 
respirated by hand. Hospitals are out of electricity, fuel, and 
supplies. Gazans are being operated on without anesthesia.


Israel has severely restricted water, food, electricity and fuel from 
entering Gaza, and Palestinians are dying from dehydration 
<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/17/fears-grow-people-are-dehydrating-to-death-in-gaza-as-clean-water-runs-out>. 



“President Biden could end this genocide today, but instead, he's using 
our tax dollars to pay for it,” said Shana Kim, with Bay Area Palestine 
Solidarity (BAPS).  “I was born in San Francisco, land that was also 
violently stolen from the Ohone people through a genocide. The billions 
that Biden is sending to fund Israel’s war crimes is money that we need 
to be using here for housing, healthcare, and education.”


President Biden is in San Francisco this week along with Vice President 
Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken to meet with world 
leaders from across the Asia Pacifics as they gather for the 
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit.  At the APEC Summit, 
Indonesian President Joko Widodo strongly urged 
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/14/indonesian-president-joko-widodo-urges-biden-to-help-end-gaza-atrocities>President 
Biden to help bring about a ceasefire.


According to a recent poll 
<https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2023/10/19/voters-agree-the-us-should-call-for-a-ceasefire-and-de-escalation-of-violence-in-gaza>, 
66% of all Americans and over 80% of Democrats support an immediate 
ceasefire in Gaza. Biden is facing growing pressure from within his own 
administration, the state department, and across federal agencies, with 
many Biden administration staffers and advisors now joining calls for an 
immediate ceasefire 
<https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/biden-administration-staff-sign-open-letter-demanding-ceasefire-israel-rcna125057>in 
Gaza.


Today’s action is part of a surge in civil disobedience around the 
country, including Jewish community-led shutdowns of Grand Central 
Station in New York City and Arab-led actions to stop military vessels 
from transporting weapons to Israel.


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