Around 1,000 people gathered in front of the San Diego County Administration Center building at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 5, to protest against Israel’s air strikes on Gaza and Lebanon and the U.S.’ role in supplying Israel with weapons. Oct. 5 was designated as an International Day of Action where marches took place across the globe for Palestine. The protest was peaceful, and there were no arrests or injuries.
Protestors recited a series of chants in front of the west side of the County Administration Center, facing the San Diego Bay and North Harbor drive. The chants included, “Free, Free Palestine,” “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
The protests took place two days before the anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, where a total of 1,189 people were killed, and 252 people were taken hostage. Of the 1,189 people killed, 769 were assessed by Agence France-Presse and Human Rights Watch to be civilians. The attacks were organized and carried out by the militant Palestinian nationalist group Hamas.
Since Oct. 7, Israel has carried out numerous air strikes in the Gaza Strip, with estimates of the death toll reaching up to 186,000 according to the British Journal The Lancet. Additionally, over 90% of people in Gaza are being forcibly displaced according to the United Nations.
South Africa has accused Israel of Genocide and filed a case against them in the International Court of Justice. On Jan. 26, 2024 the ICJ found that South Africa’s claims are “plausible” and ordered Israel to “immediately suspend its military operations in and against Gaza,” which Israel has not done.
Samar Ismael, UC San Diego alumna and current member of San Diego’s chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations spoke to The UCSD Guardian before the rally. She spoke to the significance of the march’s location.
“These elected officials are going to be seeing news coverage. They will see the numbers that are willing to show up for this cause, and they need to understand that these are the people who are very capable of putting them in power and putting them out of power.”
Ismail also spoke directly to UCSD students.
“Time and time again, students have had the ability to change the school’s policy, which served as a catalyst in the entire social movement. Think about it, if you guys really had zero power, they would ignore you. Rather, they are coming down on you so hard because they are afraid of the power that the students have.”
One of the keynote speakers at the rally was Marjorie Cohn, former president of the National Lawyers guild and a professor of International Law at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law.
“As part of its genocide, Israel is using starvation as a weapon of war,” Cohn said. “Israeli officials should be charged with crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide, and U.S. leaders should be charged with aiding and abetting.”
The last speaker at the rally was Imam Taha Hassane. He spoke on behalf of a group of San Diego faith leaders from various religions.
“We are standing together in solidarity with our Palestinian brothers and sisters against the genocide they have been subjected to since Oct. 2023. We demand an immediate ceasefire and an end to the brutal aggression against the innocent people in Palestine and Lebanon,” he said.
After Hassane spoke, the protestors marched onto North Harbor drive, blocking traffic. The march then proceeded south on North Harbor drive down towards the Embarcadero. Several police officers on bicycles and in patrol cars followed behind the march.
The protest in San Diego was one of many that took place as part of the International Day of Action in support of Palestine on Oct. 5.
