On Saturday, hundreds of pro-Palestine demonstrators took to the streets in Oakland, calling for peace in Gaza and an end to U.S. military support of Israel’s war there.
Saturday’s was one of several demonstrations organized by Bay Area faith leaders and the third pilgrimage since 2023 – those pilgrimages focused on the airport and its largest cargo shipper, FedEx.
After a 12-mile journey through Oakland, hundreds of “peace in Palestine” marches arrived at the Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport, signing their way into and through the terminals, making sure they’re seen and heard by travelers inside and outside.
“To say, do you know what’s happening right under our noses? Do you know that when you get on an airplane, there may be military cargo in the belly of that airplane?” said Reverend Allison Tanner, with the Oakland Lakeshore Baptist Church.
An inter-faith pilgrimage for Palestine in support of the Oakland People’s Arms Embargo, organized and supported by at least four dozen local groups and faith leaders.
“We stopped at various sites, where people are profiting from sending weapons to war, and we know that Oakland airport ships the parts for the F-35s,” said Rabi Lynn Gottlieb, Interfaith Pilgrimage for Palestine co-organizer.
A Palestinian youth movement study estimated as many as 280 Israeli military shipments departed Oaklandlast year, with those F-35 parts and also things like targeting hardware, bomb release systems and other military parts.
“We’re here at Oakland airport, because we know FedEx is shipping weapons parts and components to Israel, through this airport,” said Vivek Kembaiyan, Hindus for Human Rights community organizer.
A spokesperson for the airport said the port and the airport stand by their statement after a similar demonstration last October.
Back then, they said that the airport is “legally required to accommodate federally authorized air traffic, including air cargo arranged by the U.S. government or cargo providers like FedEx” and others.
But organizers of this demonstration say that’s not good enough.
“We are committing crimes against humanity. We’re signatories to treaties, through the United Nations, that make these acts illegal,” Gottlieb said.
“And we’re calling on the Oakland Ports Commission to take action to stop that, to stop the arms shipments from going to Israel,” Kembaiyan said.
Organizers said there will be more pilgrimages like this and other demonstrations until the war in Gaza ends.