Jewish Activists Shut Down Freeway, Demanding Gaza Ceasefire

As the Israeli government continues to kill thousands of Palestinian civilians, Jewish activists in the U.S. are stepping up their calls for an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza.

On Wednesday, activists with the Jewish organization IfNotNow formed a human chain across the 110 freeway in Los Angeles, shutting it down. “Sending more weapons to Israel with no strings attached is cosigning the US to the war crimes the Israeli military is committing in Gaza,” the organization wrote in a statement on Instagram. “We cannot be silent. We have to keep being impossible to ignore until the killing stops, until the mass displacement stops, until the hostages are home, and until the weapons are laid down.”

On Thursday night during rush hour, IfNotNow activists in Boston blocked the intersection at Congress and State St. “We feel we have no choice but to disrupt business as usual, when millions of lives are at stake,” the group wrote in an open letter. “So today, the eighth and final night of Chanukah, we are blocking all 15 lanes of traffic at State Street & Congress in downtown Boston for a ceasefire.

“We’ve tried everything,” the letter continues. “We’ve marched outside the White House, and prayed inside Congress. We’ve been turned away from Senator Warren’s office four times, and joined thousands of people to demonstrate outside. 66% of Americans and 80% of Democrats want a ceasefire, but politicians like Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, and Ed Markey refuse to listen. We don’t know what else to do.” (emphasis theirs)

Israel’s siege of Gaza began after the militant group Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis and took an additional 240 people hostage on October 7. Since then, Israel has killed over 18,000 Palestinians in Gaza, with 1.9 million displaced and in danger of starvation, dehydration, and disease. Thanks to Israel’s blocking of humanitarian aid, Gazans have dwindling access to necessities like food, water, medical supplies, and fuel. On December 9, 55 scholars of the Holocaust, genocide, and mass violence signed an open letter warning that Israel may be committing genocide. Many Palestinians and activists argue that Israel’s actions already meet the definition of genocide.

(featured image: Alex Wong, Getty Images)