Earlythis morning, Jewish activists in a historic first in Los Angeles,chained themselves to the entrance of the Israeli Consulate and blockedthe driveway to the parking structure, blocking all traffic in and outof the building.  "We sent a clear message to the world that LA Jews are part of the global majority in opposition to the Israeli siege of Gaza,"  said Lenny Potash a 72-year old protester who was cuffed to eight other activists, blocking the driveway to the consulate.  The activists were joined by 50 other supporters and who chanted "LA Jews say, End the Siege of Gaza" and  "Not in Our Name! We will Not be Silent!"  Protesters also held up signs reading "Israeli Consulate: Closed for War Crimes."

"Wesucceeded today in letting Jews and other Americans of conscience knowthat it is safe to speak out against the policies of the Israeligovernment and that the Israeli lobby does not speak for everyone,"said Robin Ellis, a Registered Nurse who also risked arrest to blockthe consulate entrance. "We are committed to escalating non-violentactivities in the future to end the siege and win justice forPalestinians," Ellis said.

The group of activists were an  ad-hoc,multi-generational group of LA Jewish residents, including members ofthe recently founded International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network.  They shared a commitment to ending the  Israelisiege on Gaza and an end to Israeli apartheid. The demonstration willkick off a wave of demonstrations across the United States unitingPalestinians, Jewish people, and other Americans outraged by the siege.

"Weare shocked and outraged at Israeli's latest act of violent aggressionagainst the Palestinian people. Killing over 950 people, including 250women and children, bombing schools and mosques and then calling itself-defense—that is the worst kind of hypocrisy. It also amounts towar crimes," said Hannah Howard, a local member of the InternationalJewish Anti-Zionist Network. "We shut down the Israeli consulate todaybecause as Jewish people we cannot allow business as usual whileviolence is being done in our name."

Action participants  alsospoke out against the US government's unconditional support forIsrael's siege and its ongoing war against the Palestinian people."While US-funded F16's rain down bombs on the people of Gaza, ourelected officials locally and nationally offer unqualified support."said Marsha Steinberg, a retired union representative. "Our governmentmust stop sending billions of dollars in military and economic aid tothe Israeli war machine," Goldberg said. In the coming week, concernedAmericans from all backgrounds will call on the new Presidentialadministration to make a 180 degree change in policy.

A short video produced by members of IJAN:

Click here for raw and edited video footage and photographs.

Press Coverage so far:

• Huffington Post
• LA Times
• KTLA
• KCAL / CBS 2
• ABC 7
• Fox 11
• The Jewish Journal
• KFWB
• KFI AM
• KPFK (start listening around 45min)
• People's Daily Online (China)
• China View
• Trend News

For background information on the situation in Gaza, click here: 

On November 13, 2008, three Palestinian students at the University of California, Berkeley were attacked by members of the Zionist Freedom Alliance, an off-campus organization participating in an "Israeli Liberation Week" concert organized by the student group Tikvah.  These students hung two Palestinian flags off the balcony of a nearby building to protest the message of the event.  According to testimony, three members of ZFA approached the dissenting students, physically assaulting them and invoking ethnic slurs.  When the campus police arrived, they failed to charge all of the attacking students (only one was issued a citation), and subjected the victims of the attack to humiliation and harrassment.  The administration and media have largely portrayed the incident as a "clash" or "conflict" between two groups of students, rather than addressing it as an assault.  More information is available from IndyBay, the Daily Californian (note strong bias), and Dina Omar's statement.  

The Bay Area chapter of IJAN wrote an open letter to support the students who were attacked and to contextualize the violence within the structural violence of Zionism, racism, and colonialism.  

Other Palestine-solidarity and anti-racist organizations are invited to sign onto the letter -- please email bay.ijsn@gmail.com for more information.  The full text of the letter is below.