The 60-foot banner saying "Jews Say: Let Gaza Live!" was unfurled from the top of Coit Tower Thursday morning, though it only remained for about ten minutes until police arrived.
Pro-Palestine activists in the Bay Area pulled off another protest display Thursday morning, again calling for a ceasefire in the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict. NBC Bay Area reports that activists unfurled a 60-foot banner reading "Jews Say: Let Gaza Live!" from the upper observation deck of the tower.
Activists gathered at San Francisco’s Coit Tower to call for a cease-fire in the war in Gaza. They made their way to the top of the iconic landmark and unfurled a 60-foot banner that read "Jews say: Let Gaza live!" https://t.co/E15BSWb5ME pic.twitter.com/Dr5Y5YMnkv
— NBC Bay Area (@nbcbayarea) January 18, 2024
According to KGO, the banner remained up “for about ten minutes” before police arrived and it was taken down.
For about 10 minutes on Thursday morning, demonstrators hung a massive banner from San Francisco's Coit Tower in support of a cease-fire that read, "Jews Say: Let Gaza Live!" https://t.co/tpphErsPbM pic.twitter.com/6uvnjYHvAr
— ABC7 News (@abc7newsbayarea) January 18, 2024
The Bay Area Chapter of a group called If Not Now is taking responsibility for the banner action. If Not Now describes themselves as “a movement of American Jews organizing our community to end U.S. support for Israel's apartheid system.”
Activists with @IfNotNowOrg are at Coit Tower right now asking for politicians, including Nancy Pelosi, Alex Padilla, Laphonza Butler and Joe Biden, to join their calls for a ceasefire in Gaza. @KQEDnews pic.twitter.com/Wv6x3GSe69
— Juan Carlos Lara (@jc__lara) January 18, 2024
The activists held up signs encouraging former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and California Senators Laphonza Butler and Alex Padilla to support a ceasefire. They also called out London Breed for her opposition to the resolution calling for a ceasefire that the SF Board of Supervisors approved last week.
“We’re also sending a message to London Breed,” activist Mindy Spatt told NBC Bay Area. “London Breed has made no secret of the fact that she does not support the ceasefire resolution, and even would like to see it overturned. And that’s why we're here today, to send her a message as well.”
Related: Pro-Palestine Protester Climbs Union Square Christmas Tree In SF [SFist]
Image: SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 18: People stand on a concrete pedestal where a statue of Christopher Columbus once stood at the foot of Coit Tower on June 18, 2020 in San Francisco, California. San Francisco city workers removed a bronze statue of Italian explorer Christopher Columbus from Pioneer Park at the foot of Coit Tower after the statue had recently been vandalized and following reports that protesters had plans to topple the statue and dump it in the San Francisco Bay. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)