Thousands marched through downtown San Francisco on Sunday to demand an end to antisemitism they say is surging across the Bay Area in the wake of the October Hamas attack on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza.
The Unity March, one of a growing number of recent pro-Israel demonstrations throughout the U.S. and the world, came as the fighting has intensified in recent days and tensions over the conflict have escalated at Bay Area schools and universities.
In San Francisco on Sunday, protestors carrying Israeli flags and chanting “free all hostages” marched down Market Street in the rain from Embarcadero Plaza near the Ferry Building to a rally before City Hall.
Marcher Itai Dadon came to the U.S. from France 12 years ago in part to flee the antisemitism he said was widespread in that country. Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, he said he’s seen swastikas spraypainted around Palo Alto, where he lives with his family, including near Palo Alto High School, which one of his children attends.
“Suddenly, we start to see the same things that we used to see in France happening,” he said. “We want to stand strong and say that we believe in American values. We believe in what this country was made for as a safe harbor for everyone.”
The march followed a pro-Palestine rally in downtown San Francisco on Saturday that also brought thousands of people to the streets.
Protesters then decried the deaths of more than 100 people whom Gazan health officials said were killed during a stampede to a convoy of aid trucks, leading Israeli soldiers to fire at the crowd. On Saturday, an Israeli strike killed at least 11 near a hospital in Rafah, a city in the south of Gaza that Israeli officials had previously declared as a safe zone for civilians.
The Israeli government has resisted growing global calls for a stop in the fighting. It has vowed to destroy Hamas, which has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, and prevent it from repeating the brutal slaying of more than 1,400 civilians and soldiers and the taking of hundreds of Jewish hostages. Officials in Gaza say more than 30,000 Palestinians have since been killed in the conflict.
On Sunday, a group of a few dozen Jewish activists carrying signs reading “Jews for a Cease Fire” and “All Life is Precious” were confronted by a handful of other marchers chanting “shame” and denouncing them for their calls for an end to the fighting.
“We are honoring our values, which is to value human life above all else, and we believe that is the most Jewish thing you can do,” said Ben Saunders, a 30-year-old activist from Oakland who helped organize the cease-fire group. “Were not coming here in spite of our Jewish identity, we’re coming her because of our Jewish identity.”
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Sunday’s march followed a protest last week at UC Berkeley against an event organized by Jewish students that prompted police to evacuate attendees after demonstrators forced their way through the doors. At San Jose State University, a Jewish studies professor was placed on leave last month after being seen placing a hand on a pro-Palestinian student during a confrontation over a guest speaker.
Ella Segev, a 16-year-old Palo Alto High School student who joined the march, said she’s been disheartened by the positions some universities and cities have taken on conflict and what she described as growing antisemitic views on college campuses.
“That’s somewhere I could be going to school, and they publicly are saying they don’t support me and my people,” Segev said.
Like others at the march, Dadon, the protestor who moved to the U.S. from France, said it’s been difficult to see the devastation in Gaza, though he made clear where his support lies.
“Loss of life — it doesn’t matter from which side — this is wrong, especially innocent people and civilians,” he said. “But Israel is defending itself. I firmly believe that this is just war.”