Pro-Palestinian protesters shut down security line at San Francisco International Airport

Noah Goldberg
Wed, March 13, 2024 

The road in front of the international terminal sits empty at San Francisco International Airport on April 2, 2020. Pro-Palestinian protesters blocked off a security line at the airport Wednesday morning. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

Pro-Palestinian protesters calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war blocked off a security line at San Francisco International Airport on Wednesday morning.

More than two dozen protesters linked arms and blocked the entrance to the airport's G gates, photos from the scene show. The protesters held a Palestinian flag with the words "Permanent Ceasefire" written on it.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that there were "as many as 200" protesters and that they were also blocking the A gates. Some protested outside the airport as well.

The airport continued operations.

"There is a protest in the International Terminal," the airport said in a post on the social media site X. "The terminal remains open. Passengers are being re-routed around the activity."

The airport also recommended that travelers get dropped off at the Kiss and Fly lot at the Rental Car Center and take the AirTrain as opposed to trying to arrive directly at the International Terminal curb.

"We do not want to be here. We are forced to be here because we have lost count of the petitions we've sent, the emails we've sent, of the meetings we've had with our congresspeople, of the days we've marched through the streets begging our government to hear the millions of voices for cease-fire," said one protester, in a video shared by reporter Dena Takruri.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.


SFO protest over Gaza creates chaos at airport

Tom Vacar
Wed, March 13, 2024 

SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco International Airport was the site of a demonstration by pro-Palestinian protesters demanding a ceasefire in Gaza who showed up in force on Wednesday morning, and despite the noise and chaos, flights still took off on time.

A group called Critical Resistance showed up at SFO about 8:30 a.m. and members held a big black banner that read "Stop the World for Gaza" in front of the TSA security line for the A Gates at the international terminal.

Activists also locked arms with each other, blocking Gate G at Terminal 1. Others marched in a circle on the road outside the airport, and still others chanted and spoke inside the building. Organizer Joshua Caldwell said about 300 protesters gathered.

Organizers said the protest lasted 153 minutes, one minute for each day the Israel-Hamas war has lasted. Oddly enough, much of the international terminal remained open for food items and restrooms.

The demonstrators all cleared out by noon and there was no immediate word of arrests.

Several travelers were disturbed by the commotion.

"It's not right," Kamaljit Singh said. "It's inconvenient. "If they want attention, they should march at the White House."

"I think it's a good way to demonstrate your viewpoint on Gaza, but, stopping other people from traveling I don't think is the way to do that," said traveler Preston Peeler.

SFO spokesman Doug Yakel said passengers were being re-routed to avoid the protest.

Travelers seeking to reach the international terminal were encouraged by SFO to get dropped off at the rental car center and take an air train to the terminal.

Protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza held a demonstration at San Francisco International Airport on March 13, 2024. Photo: Critical Resistance(KTVU FOX 2)

Other passengers traveling by taxis or rideshare services should get picked up or dropped off at domestic terminals, SFO said.

Yakel said the protesters were peaceful.

"The protest leaders we worked with held true to the commitments that they made when they said they were going to finish their activity at a certain time. And, that does require coordination, it does require negotiation. We certainly implemented some alternate plans to get our passengers where they needed to go around this protest activity," Yakel said.

The protest had also not caused any delays to BART service at SFO, the transit agency said.

By about 10 a.m., police had arrived with buses but had not yet been seen arresting anyone, although officers were seen writing tickets to illegally parked cars and towing them away. Caldwell said participants were glad that nobody was arrested and that the group felt it had support for its actions from some travelers.

By noon, the chanting had stopped and the protesters had all disbursed. Caldwell said the decision to disperse was made for the safety of protesters, but not because of any specific threat.

Caldwell said the protesters were Bay Area residents who were not part of any organization or group besides their shared motivation to call for an immediate ceasefire and an end to U.S. military aid to Israel.

There have been protests around the nation and the Bay Area over the treatment of Palestinians in Gaza since the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7.

A massive protest occurred on the Bay Bridge in November 2023 when hundreds of Pro-Palestine protesters tied up traffic during rush hour, calling out to world leaders to end the war during the APEC summit when President Biden was in town.

Bay City News contributed to this report.


A woman bangs a drum and speaks in a megaphone at SFO during a Gaza protest. March 14, 2024


Police cars and tow trucks wait outside SFO during Gaza protest. March 13, 2024


Protesters take over SFO to demande a ceasefire in Gaza. March 13, 2024

Ceasefire protests at SFO March 13, 2024.

After pro-Palestinian events, protesters will face new restrictions in Miami Beach

Aaron Leibowitz
Wed, March 13, 2024 

The Miami Beach City Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to support a resolution by Mayor Steven Meiner for the city to set “parameters for reasonable time, place and manner restrictions” for protests, pointing to several pro-Palestinian demonstrations in the city in recent months.

The resolution also calls for police to inform elected officials of all protests planned in the city within one hour of police learning a protest is expected to occur.

It comes two days after police directed pro-Palestinian protesters to a “free speech zone” near the Aspen Ideas climate conference at the Miami Beach Convention Center, saying they could not stand directly outside the event’s entrance for security reasons.

READ MORE: Gaza war protesters told to use ‘free speech zone’ outside Miami Beach climate conference

To support his proposal, Meiner cited pro-Palestinian protests at which he claimed “our laws have been violated.” During a public comment period, the mayor cut off one speaker who referred to the Israeli government’s war in Gaza as a “genocide” and suggested that Meiner’s proposal was aimed at restricting free speech related to Israel.

“I‘m not going to sit here and allow you to make accusations about the Israeli government,” Meiner said, calling the statements “antisemitic.”

Several speakers said they believed the proposal was aimed at speech that city officials find objectionable.

The U.S. Supreme Court has said governments can limit the time, place and manner of speech if it serves a significant government interest and is “content neutral” and “narrowly tailored.”

Meiner’s item Wednesday calls for the city to create restrictions in order to “regulate and control future protests and demonstrations to the fullest extent permitted by law.” The resolution does not refer to pro-Palestinian protests or any specific types of demonstrations.

The details of the city’s regulations on protests have not yet been determined by city staff.

Pro-Palestinian protesters rallied outside of Art Basel at the Miami Beach Convention Center on Dec. 8, 2023.

Mayor cites protest at synagogue

At Wednesday’s meeting, Meiner showed video clips of pro-Palestinian demonstrators protesting a speech late last month by lawyer Alan Dershowitz at Temple Emanu-El in Miami Beach. In one clip from outside the synagogue, elderly people are seen crossing the street and walking through a group of protesters chanting and holding signs on a sidewalk.

“As mayor, I will not tolerate our residents being harassed and accosted and threatened for simply trying to pray,” Meiner said, comparing the images to “Nazi Germany.” There were no reports of protesters causing physical harm to synagogue members.

Commissioner David Suarez said he believed the video showed an insufficient police presence outside the synagogue protecting its members and suggested that Police Chief Wayne Jones’ handling of the incident was “grounds for firing.”

“If that was a KKK rally, it would have been different,” Suarez said.

He added that, as someone who is half Israeli and one of four Jewish elected officials in Miami Beach, including Meiner, he found it “concerning” that they were not notified of the protest.

Jones was sworn in as the first Black police chief of Miami Beach in August. In response to Suarez’s comments, Jones said he should have informed elected officials of the protest ahead of time but defended the policing of the event. He said there were 22 police officers present, including four inside the synagogue who removed three protesters who interrupted Dershowitz’s speech.

Those three people said they had obtained tickets to the event, as previously reported by the Miami Herald. Video showed one of the protesters being physically attacked by a man inside. Jones said during Wednesday’s meeting that the protester was “battered by a congregant,” though no charges have been filed.

READ MORE: Protesters forcibly removed from Miami Beach temple hosting Alan Dershowitz, one attacked

After Meiner’s resolution was approved, multiple members of the public said they disagreed with the way Suarez had spoken to the police chief. Miami Beach resident Carla Probus said she supports the Israeli government but was troubled by the conversation.

“It is a constitutional right to be able to speak,” Probus said. “We’ve got to stop the bullying. It’s out of control.”

Jones told the Herald in a statement after Wednesday’s discussion that “as the chief of police and a former resident of Miami Beach, I emphasize my unwavering commitment to the safety and well-being of every resident in our city, including our valued Jewish community.”

“Upholding the provisions of the U.S. Constitution and prioritizing the protection of all who live, work and visit in our city remains my top priorities,” he said.
Previous concerns about pro-Palestinian protest

In December, Meiner had raised concerns about a pro-Palestinian protest outside the Convention Center during Art Basel, at which a group of artists unfurled a banner that read, “Let Palestine Live.” About 100 people rallied while waving Palestinian flags and holding signs to call for a permanent ceasefire in the war in Gaza.

During that event, Miami Beach police tried to keep protesters away from Convention Center doors. Police arrested two protesters and charged one with resisting without violence and the other with resisting without violence and disorderly conduct.

READ MORE: Artists and activists stage pro-Palestinian protest in front of Art Basel Miami Beach

Miami Beach police try to keep pro-Palestinian protesters away from the Miami Beach Convention Center doors at a protest during Art Basel on Dec. 8, 2023.

Days later, Meiner sponsored an item on the City Commission agenda in which he pointed out that protesters were chanting the controversial phrase, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” The mayor’s item called for the city to set “parameters for reasonable time, place and manner restrictions for protests, including discussion of incitement to violence vs. free speech.”

Meiner never called that item for discussion by the City Commission. It was retooled without any reference to specific pro-Palestinian protests in Wednesday’s resolution.

“This is a nonpartisan government,” Meiner said Wednesday. “Clearly, we are respectful of free speech.”

Aaron Leibowitz, Ashley Miznazi
Wed, March 13, 2024 

When a small group of pro-Palestinian protesters arrived to the Miami Beach Convention Center on Monday evening, hoping to hand out flyers to attendees of the Aspen Ideas climate conference, they were surprised to be met by police.

They say officers told them that only conference attendees could enter the area around the Convention Center, with one exception: a barricaded “free speech zone” for protesters at the southwest corner of Pride Park.

Members of the group, however, say the zone is too far away from the conference entrance for most attendees to see or hear them.

“We were surrounded by cops. The most people who would’ve seen us there would be the odd man out trying to get their car in the Meridian [Avenue] garage,” said Glory Jones, a protester with Jewish Voice for Peace, referring to a nearby parking garage. “By having borders to where we speak, you’re essentially saying there’s certain zones that free speech doesn’t apply, that the Constitution doesn’t apply.”

A “security zone” around the Convention Center campus was set up at some point Monday afternoon, hours after the conference began that morning. Similar security zones were not in place during the first two years of the conference in 2022 and 2023, except when Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at the conference last year and roads were closed off by the Secret Service.

Miami Beach police set up the perimeter to provide security for “high-level officials and other attendees,” including “federal cabinet level officials, a U.S. governor, foreign dignitaries, and over 50 United States mayors,” police spokesperson Christopher Bess said in a statement Monday night. He did not respond to an inquiry about why a different approach was taken for this year’s conference.

Speakers at this week’s event include U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Lauren Sánchez, vice chair of the Bezos Earth Fund. The conference runs through Wednesday.

Only credentialed attendees can enter the security zone around the Convention Center campus, said Bess, “except for those who wish to exercise their First Amendment right to protest, demonstrate, or leaflet.”

“A demonstration zone has been created within Pride Park to provide a forum to exercise those rights,” he said.

Police said the pro-Palestinian protesters could stand in an area at the southwest end of Pride Park, which remained surrounded by barricades Tuesday. The group said it would have been too far away from the conference entrance at the Miami Beach Convention Center (left) for most attendees to see or hear them.

Bess added that demonstrators are also “free to speak to and interact with all convention attendees at the entrance to the Security Zone, through which all credentialed attendees must pass.”

That is ultimately what approximately two dozen pro-Palestinian protesters decided to do Monday, standing in front of a parking garage on 17th Street near Convention Center Drive rather than utilizing the designated protest zone in Pride Park.


On Tuesday morning, conference organizers sent attendees an update, telling them to enter from 17th Street “due to road closures” and to “wear your badge at all times.”

Pro-Palestinian protesters moved to the sidewalk across from the 17th Street parking garage after being told by police they couldn’t stand outside the Miami Beach Botantical Garden across from a climate conference at the Convention Center.

The U.S. Supreme Court has said that governments can limit the time, place and manner of speech if it serves a significant government interest and is “content neutral” and “narrowly tailored.”

Thomas Julin, a First Amendment attorney with the Gunster law firm in Miami, said the constitutionality of free speech zones depends on the specific circumstances. Governments can’t limit speech based on the type of message protesters are espousing, he said, and shouldn’t interfere with their ability to communicate with people they are hoping to reach. Julin also said cutting off the ability to protest on public streets and sidewalks is typically difficult to defend.

Concerns would arise if the restrictions “are actually very content- or speaker-specific, and [police] are just doing things because the [city] officials disagree with the content of the speech,” Julin said.

Mayor wants to regulate protests

Some of the city’s elected officials, including Mayor Steven Meiner, previously raised concerns about a pro-Palestinian protest outside the Convention Center during Art Basel in December.

Days after the Dec. 8 protest, Meiner sponsored an item on the City Commission agenda in which he pointed out that protesters were chanting the controversial phrase, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” The mayor’s item called for the city to set “parameters for reasonable time, place and manner restrictions for protests, including discussion of incitement to violence vs. free speech.”

At a virtual meeting with residents in January, Meiner said he was “upset” that the protest was allowed to take place directly outside the Convention Center entrance. A group of artists unfurled a banner that read, “Let Palestine Live,” and about 100 people rallied while waving Palestinian flags and holding signs to call for a permanent ceasefire in the ongoing war in Gaza.

During that event, Miami Beach police tried to keep protesters away from Convention Center doors. Police arrested two protesters and charged one with resisting without violence and the other with resisting without violence and disorderly conduct.

Meiner never called the December item for discussion by city commissioners. But he is now sponsoring a resolution on the agenda for Wednesday’s City Commission meeting that calls for the city to create “time, place and manner restrictions” in order to “regulate and control future protests and demonstrations to the fullest extent permitted by law.” The resolution does not refer to pro-Palestinian protests or any specific types of demonstrations.

The mayor’s resolution also calls for police to inform him and city commissioners of all protests planned in the city within one hour of police learning a protest is expected to occur.

In December, Commissioner David Suarez raised concerns that police didn’t tell elected officials about the pro-Palestinian protest outside Art Basel until the day before it was set to take place. Suarez emailed City Manager Alina Hudak to say that “the failure to provide us with this information when it first came to the administration’s attention is very disappointing.”

Miami Beach police did not immediately respond to an inquiry about whether the demonstration zone at the Aspen conference was implemented in response to concerns from elected officials. Meiner and his chief of staff, Veronica Coley, did not respond to requests for comment.

Miami Herald staff writer Alex Harris contributed to this report.

Ashley Miznazi is a climate change reporter for the Miami Herald funded by the Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Family Foundation in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners.