The Oakland People’s Arms Embargo, a coalition of Palestinian rights groups, faith organizations, labor unions, and peace activists, protested today outside FedEx’s massive Air Freight Center in East Oakland, calling attention to the company’s alleged practice of shipping arms to Israel.

According to the coalition, FedEx transports F-35 fighter jet parts from Oakland and other U.S. airports to Israeli military bases. These components are used to maintain the Israeli military’s growing fleet of between 50 and 100 F-35s. The F-35, considered one of the world’s most advanced fighter jets, has been used to carry out airstrikes during Israel’s nearly 3-year war in Gaza and other parts of the Middle East.

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Israel invaded Gaza following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 incursion into southern Israel, where the Palestinian group killed 1,195 people and took 251 as hostages. Israel has since killed over 74,000 Palestinians.

“As the death toll continues to climb, and as more and more Americans are increasingly and overwhelmingly appalled by Israel’s disregard for human life, our message to FedEx is clear: your role in fueling Israel’s genocide will cost you, and we will not stop demanding accountability until these deadly shipments are halted,” said Mohamed Shehk of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center Action, one of the organizers of the protest.

Multiple United Nations inquiries, human rights groups, including leading Israeli organizations, and the largest professional association of scholars studying genocide have concluded that Israel’s war in Gaza constitutes genocide.

FedEx did not immediately respond to an interview request for this story.

Protesters gathered along Edes Avenue outside of FedEx’s warehouse on Friday, Oct. 9, 2026. Credit: Darwin BondGraham/The Oaklandside

The Oakland San Francisco Bay Airport is one hub from which FedEx ships fighter jet parts to Israel, local activists say. Last year, the Palestinian Youth Movement, a member of the Oakland People’s Arms Embargo coalition, released a report alleging that between January and August 2025, they were able to identify at least 280 military cargo shipments leaving Oakland for Israel.

The groups have been campaigning to ask the Port of Oakland, which manages the airport, to halt the shipments. Airport officials previously told The Oaklandside that they do not have authority to regulate the kinds of cargo shipments that carrier tenants like FedEx transport through their facilities.

Earlier this year, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee lent her support to the arms embargo campaign and said she would communicate her concerns to the Port of Oakland.

Outside the FedEx warehouse on Friday, dozens of small memorial signs were stuck into the grass next to the fence around the trucking center. Each sign described someone, many of them children, who were killed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza since 2023.

Protesters set up a memorial to Palestinians killed during the war in Gaza. Credit: Darwin BondGraham

The protesters have collected 26,000 signatures on a petition calling for the Port of Oakland and city leaders, including the mayor and City Council, to take steps to stop the arms shipments. (The port is part of the city, but it’s managed by an independent board of commissioners.)

Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire last year, but according to media reports, more than 1,400 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by Israeli forces since then. In February, Israel and the United States launched a war against Iran, starting with airstrikes that killed many of the country’s top leaders. Israel has also continued to carry out strikes in Lebanon, where members of the militia group Hezbollah attacked Israel following the Oct. 7 attacks.

Friday’s protest in Oakland is the latest attempt in the Bay Area to bring an end to the wars in the Middle East. In November 2023, the Oakland City Council passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages. Around the same time, protesters rallied at the Port of Oakland’s maritime berths, objecting to what they said was military cargo bound for Israel aboard ships docked there; and hundreds of Jewish activists occupied Oakland’s federal building, also calling for a ceasefire.

Protesters stood on the sidewalk outside FedEx’s Oakland facility, protesting what they allege are the company’s shipment of military equipment to Israel. Credit: Darwin BondGraham/The Oaklandside

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