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Thousands March in San Francisco to Support Palestine

The San Francisco march appeared as a vast sea of red, black, white, and green, as protesters waved Palestinian flags in those colors that had been provided by organizers.

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Protestors wave flags and signs in support of Palestine and against the Israeli occupation in San Francisco's Dolores Park on May 15. Photo by Zack Haber.

Protestors wave flags and signs in support of Palestine and against the Israeli occupation in San Francisco’s Dolores Park on May 15. Photo by Zack Haber.

Abdul (left) and Rami (center), stand at a protest in San Francisco’s Dolores Park to support Palestinians and against the Israeli occupation on May 15. Photo by Zack Haber.

On Saturday, thousands gathered in San Francisco’s Mission District at 2:00 p.m. to march in support of Palestine and against the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.

“It gives me hope that people are waking up who didn’t know about this issue, including people who used to be Zionists, but just can’t find it defensible anymore,” said San Francisco resident Saif Haddad as he stood on a trash can gazing out into a densely packed marching crowd that covered more than four city blocks.

Haddad told The Oakland Post that his grandmother was forced from her homeland in Palestine in 1948. Since then, she has not been allowed to return. Haddad himself has never been able to visit the land where his ancestors once lived.

The march was organized in part in response to the state of Israel’s recent attacks on Palestine. On Monday following the march, Democracy Now! reported that over a two-week period ending on Sunday, Israeli attacks killed over 200 Palestinians including over 50 children, injured over 1,300 and left over 40,000 Palestinians homeless.

The march also responded to the history of Israeli occupation by occurring on Nakba Day, an annual day of commemoration for Palestinians marking the day after the British government formally declared the end of its mandate to recognize the state of Palestine,  recognizing Israel in its place on May 14, 1948. Beginning in 1949, Palestinians have commemorated Nakba Day every May 15th with remembrance and protest.

“For my family, Nakba is about why we are here and not our homeland,” said Rami, a Palestinian teenager living in San Ramon who attended the march. Rami’s grandparents were originally displaced from their home in 1948, then bounced back and forth between Lebanon and different parts of Palestine before moving to the United States in the late 1960s.

Rami said that the march was one of the happiest things he had ever been a part of and that he’d not seen so much awareness for Palestine since he was born. He also noted broad national and international support. An article appearing in Buzz Feed News documented other pro-Palestine protests on May 15 in Paris, Tokyo, Madrid, Wash., D.C., Canada, Ireland, Mexico, and London, where organizers say about 100,000 supporters showed up. In Los Angeles, thousands showed up to a march to free Palestine in the Westwood neighborhood, where they stalled traffic.

The San Francisco march appeared as a vast sea of red, black, white, and green, as protesters waved Palestinian flags in those colors that had been provided by organizers. Before the march started, about 50 Palestinians and supporters painted a giant circular street mural on Valencia Street that Palestinian artist Chris Gazaleh had sketched out. It included symbols supporting Palestine such as women wearing keffiyeh scarves, red poppy, and the Palestinian flag with the words “we will return” in Arabic and English.

While many Palestinians came to the march, the crowd was diverse and supporters from many different backgrounds joined them. A young Palestinian child held a sign that read “SAVE THE CHILDREN OF PALESTINE” while a Jewish man from Berkeley in his late 60s carried a sign that read “SON OF HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS AGAINST ISRAEL’S RACIST OCCUPATION.” An indigenous person held a sign that read “NATIVES 4 PALESTINE.”

The march was loud. Drummers and organizers lead chants and the crowd yelled in response. A few were in Arabic, one of which, according to a Palestinian protestor, translated to “with our life, with our blood, we will sacrifice for Palestine.” 

Most chants were in English, including one where protestors yelled “not another nickel, not another dime, no more money for Israel’s crimes.” This chant referred to the $3.8 billion that the United States has been sending to Israel every year since 2016, which has continued under President Joe Biden, who recently approved $735 million in weapons sales to Israel. One marcher held a sign which read “Stop US Aid to Apartheid Israel.”

After marching for about two miles in the Mission District, the protestors entered Dolores Park. There, members of the local anti-Zionist groups spoke.

Monadel Harzallah, a Palestinian member of the United States Palestinian Community Network, said “We have no illusions about the US administration here. It doesn’t matter if they disagree with racist Trump, they are following his footsteps when it comes to Israel.”

Continuing, Harzallah accused Biden of not having the courage to reverse any of Trump’s policies in relation to Israel.

Allison Tanner, a Baptist pastor from Oakland and a member of Friends of Sabeel North America, a Christian group seeking peace in Palestine through an end to the U.S.-supported Israeli occupation, said, “We know that Christian Zionists are wielding their power in Washington to help fund and provide political cover for Israel’s war crimes. We are here to decry the evils that they are doing in the name of Christianity and to commit ourselves to challenging Christian Zionism in all its ugly forms.”

Liza Mamedov, of the Jewish anti-Zionist activist group Jewish Voice for Peace, said “The state of Israel has always required, at every step, the forced displacement, racist oppression, fascist surveilling, occupation and apartheid; in one word: genocide against the Palestinian people. As colonized people living under brutalized occupation and siege, Palestinians are overwhelmingly justified in resisting their oppressors by any and all means necessary.”

Members of The Palestinian Youth Movement and Black Alliance for Peace also spoke. The protest started winding down around 6:00 p.m., when Palestinians and supporters left Dolores Park. Hours later though, small groups of people, most of whom appeared to be teenagers or in their 20s, could still be seen driving around the Mission District, honking horns and cheering as they waved Palestinian flags.

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Activism

Oakland Post: Week of March 13 – 19, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 13 – 19, 2024

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Oakland Post: Week of March 6 – 12, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of March 6 – 12, 2024

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Who are the Alameda County District 4 Supervisor Candidates’ Top Campaign Contributors?

Below, we’ve listed each candidate’s 10 highest campaign contributors. For Miley, two of his top campaign donors also bought their own advertisements to support him and/or oppose Esteen through independent expenditures. Such expenditures, though separate from campaign donations, are also public record, and we listed them. Additionally, the National Organization of Realtors has spent about $70,500 on their own independent expenditures to support Miley.

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Jennifer Esteen. (Campaign photo) and Supervisor Nate Miley. (Official photo).
Jennifer Esteen. (Campaign photo) and Supervisor Nate Miley. (Official photo).

By Zack Haber

Nate Miley, who has served on Alameda County’s Board of Supervisors since 2000, is running for reelection to the District 4 supervisor seat.

Jennifer Esteen, a nurse and activist, is seeking to unseat him and become one of the five members of the powerful board that sets the county’s budget, governs its unincorporated areas, and oversees the sheriff, Alameda Health System, and mental health system.

District 4 includes most of East Oakland’s hills and flatlands beyond Fruitvale, part of Pleasanton and unincorporated areas south of San Leandro like Ashland and Castro Valley.

Voting is open and will remain open until March 5.

In California, campaign donations of $100 or more are public record. The records show that Miley has received about $550,000 in total campaign donations since he won the previous District 4 election in March 2020. Esteen has raised about $255,000 in total campaign donations since she started collecting them last July. All figures are accurate through Feb. 20.

While Miley has raised more money, Esteen has received donations from more sources. Miley received donations of $100 or more from 439 different sources. Esteen received such donations from 507 different sources.

Below, we’ve listed each candidate’s 10 highest campaign contributors. For Miley, two of his top campaign donors also bought their own advertisements to support him and/or oppose Esteen through independent expenditures. Such expenditures, though separate from campaign donations, are also public record, and we listed them. Additionally, the National Organization of Realtors has spent about $70,500 on their own independent expenditures to support Miley.

Nate Miley’s top campaign contributors:

The California Apartment Association, a trade group representing landlords and investors in California’s rental housing business, has spent about $129,500 supporting Miley’s election bid through about $59,500 in ads against Esteen$55,000 in ads supporting Miley, and $15,000 in campaign donations.

The independent expenditure committee Preserve Agriculture in Alameda County has spent about $46,025 supporting Miley through about $27,200 in their own ads, and $18,825 in donations to his campaign. Preserve Agriculture has supported reelection efforts for former Alameda County DA Nancy O’Malley, and Sheriff Greg Ahern, a republican. It’s received funding from ChevronPG&E, and a the California Apartment Association.

Organizations associated with the Laborers’ International Union of North America, or LiUNA, have donated about $35,000 in total. Construction and General Laborers Local 304, a local chapter of the union representing which represents over 4,000 workers, donated $20,000.

Laborers Pacific Southwest Regional Organizing Coalition, which represents 70,000 LiUNA members in Arizona, California, Hawaii and New Mexico, donated $15,000.

William ‘Bill’ Crotinger and the East Oakland-based company Argent Materials have donated $26,000. Crotinger is the president and founder of Argent, a concrete and asphalt recycling yard. Argent’s website says it is an eco-friendly company that diverts materials from landfills. In 2018, Argent paid the EPA $27,000 under a settlement for committing Clean Water Act violations.

Michael Morgan of Hayward, owner of We Are Hemp, a marijuana dispensary in Ashland, has donated $21,500.

Alameda County District 1 Supervisor David Haubert has donated $21,250 from his 2024 reelection campaign. He’s running unopposed for the District 1 seat.

SEIU 1021which represents over 60,000 workers in local governments, non-profit agencies, healthcare programs, and schools in Northern California, has donated $20,000.

UA Local 342, which represents around 4,000 pipe trades industry workers in Contra Costa and Alameda counties, donated $20,000.

The union representing the county’s deputy sheriffs, Deputy Sheriff’s Association of Alameda County, has donated $17,000.

Becton Healthcare Resources and its managers have donated $14,625. Becton’s mission statement says it provides “behavioral health management services to organizations and groups that serve the serious and persistent mentally ill population.”

Jennifer Esteen’s top campaign contributors:

Mary Quinn Delaney of Piedmont, founder of Akonadi Foundation, has donated $20,000. Akonadi Foundation gives grants to nonprofit organizations, especially focusing on racial justice organizing,

Bridget Galli of Castro Valley has donated $7,000. Galli is a yoga instructor and a co-owner of Castro Valley Yoga.

Rachel Gelman of Oakland has donated $5,000. Gelman is an activist who has vowed to redistribute her inherited wealth to working class, Indigenous and Black communities.

California Worker Families Party has donated $5,000. The organization’s website describes itself as a “grassroots party for the multiracial working class.”

David Stern of Albany has donated $5,000. Stern is a retired UC Berkeley Professor of Education.

Oakland Rising Committee—a collaborative of racial, economic, and environmental justice organizations—has donated about $3,050.

Fredeke Von Bothmer-Goodyear, an unemployed resident of San Francisco, has donated $2,600.

Robert Britton of Castro Valley has donated $2,500. Britton is retired and worked in the labor movement for decades.

Progressive Era PAC has donated about $2,400. Its mission statement says it “exists to elect governing majorities of leaders in California committed to building a progressive era for people of color.”

East Bay Stonewall Democrats Club has donated $2,250. The club was founded in 1982 to give voice to the East Bay LGBTQIA+ communities.

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