April 15, 2024: Bay Area commercial traffic ground to a halt on Monday as economic blockades were established to halt the flow of goods and labor and disrupt the US economy for its complicity in the Gaza genocide. Both directions of I-880 in Oakland and the Golden Gate Bridge were shut down for 6 hours alongside simultaneous economic blockades across the US and the world.

The morning began with northbound I-880 traffic in Oakland halted by seven people locked to six, 280-pound concrete-filled barrels at 6:00am. Palestinian flags and a banner that read “A15 economic blockade to Free Palestine” were hung on the highway fencing.

An hour later, several hundred protesters marched from West Oakland BART station and took over southbound 880 at another nearby location. Authorities were unable to clear these two groups.

Meanwhile, at 6.30, 60 people blocked traffic on the southbound side of the Golden Gate bridge by locking themselves to their cars on all lanes. Banners outside their cars read “End the Siege on Gaza Now” and “Stop the World for Gaza.” This led to a halt in traffic in both directions.

Each action required several hours for the police to forcibly disburse protesters with several arrests, disrupting traffic for six hours in total across the Bay Area. A protester on northbound 880 was taken to the hospital after California Highway patrol injured her and denied medical support to reach her for an hour, despite pleas from motorists.

Halting the flow of labor and goods throughout the Bay Area and into San Francisco was initiated as a strike against the US economy, which produces the resources that enable Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza.

“We are here advocating for the people of Palestine. We demand an end to all US aid to Israel. The disastrous humanitarian crisis in Gaza is a direct result of US political, financial, and military aid to the terror state of Israel. Since the current corporation bought elected officials don’t want to listen, and think they can turn a blind eye to the chaos they’re creating just to line their pockets, they have forced us into this position. They have forced us to take to the streets and do everything in our power to save the Palestinians from America. We are dedicated towards the liberation of Palestine until reclamation and return. And that means we are shutting down the economy that funds the genocide. We refuse to be complicit. We refuse to stand idly by. The time is now. And we must act.” —Palestinian and activist Neena