Pro-Palestinian demonstrators blocked roads in Illinois, California, New York and the Pacific Northwest on Monday, temporarily banning access to some of the nation’s most heavily used airports, the Golden Gate and Brooklyn bridges and busy West Coast highways.
Protesters in Chicago linked arms and blocked lanes of Interstate 190 leading to O’Hare International Airport around 7 a.m., according to Rifqa Falaneh, one of the organizers. This is part of the global “Free Palestine Economic Blockade”.
Traffic was gridlocked in the San Francisco Bay Area for hours as demonstrators shut down the Golden Gate Bridge to all vehicular, pedestrian and bicycle traffic and chained themselves to 55-gallon drums filled with cement across Interstate 880 in Oakland. Protesters marching into Brooklyn blocked traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan. In Eugene, Oregon, protesters blocked Interstate 5, disrupting traffic on the main highway for about 45 minutes.
Protesters said they chose O’Hare in part because it is one of the largest airports. Among other things, they called for an immediate ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas.
Anti-war protesters have held almost daily demonstrations in Chicago since Hamas attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people. Since then, Israeli warplanes and ground forces have waged a scorched-earth battle in the Gaza Strip.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, the Israeli offensive has killed more than 33,700 Palestinians. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants when counting deaths, but said women and children accounted for two-thirds of the fatalities.
O’Hare warned travelers on social platform
Some travelers stuck in traffic got out of their cars and dragged their luggage along the final stretch of the highway to the airport.
Among them was Madeline Hannan, from the Chicago suburbs. She was heading to O’Hare for a business trip to Florida when she and her husband’s car stalled for 20 minutes. She got out of the car and “ran and walked briskly” for more than 1.6 kilometers (1 mile). She said she made it to the gate on time, but barely.
“It’s an inconvenience,” she said in a phone interview from Florida. “But in the grand scheme of things happening overseas, it’s just a minor inconvenience.”
While individual travelers may be affected, operations at the airport appear to be near normal, with delays of less than 15 minutes, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation.
Inbound traffic to O’Hare resumes around 9 a.m.
Near Seattle, the Washington State Department of Transportation said demonstrations closed major roads leading to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Social media posts showed people standing on the highway, which reopened about three hours later, holding banners and waving Palestinian flags.
About 20 protesters were arrested during the Golden Gate Bridge demonstration, and traffic resumed shortly after noon, according to the California Highway Patrol. The agency said police were making arrests at two locations on the interstate, including one where about 300 protesters resisted orders to disperse.
“Attempting to block or close a highway or state highway for protest is illegal, dangerous and prevents motorists from reaching their destinations safely,” the agency said in a statement.
Oregon State Police said 52 protesters were arrested for disorderly conduct following a protest on Interstate 5 in Eugene, Oregon, about 177 kilometers (110 miles) south of Portland. Six vehicles were towed from the scene.
New York police, who made multiple arrests, said 150 protesters initially took part in the march around 3:15 p.m., but the number quickly grew.The bridge fully reopened at 5 p.m.
In Chicago, dozens of protesters were arrested, according to Farane. Chicago police said Monday that “multiple people” were detained after a protest that blocked traffic, but they did not have a detailed count.
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