On Black Friday, a day when consumers typically flood stores for the year's best deals, the Bay Area bore witness to a different sort of gathering, as hundreds of activists, led by impassioned youths, took to the streets to demand a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. According to SFGate, protesters began their march at San Francisco's City Hall at approximately 2:00 p.m., with the ranks swelling to about a thousand by the time Union Square was reached.
Helena Awwad, a Lowell High School student and member of Arab Youth Organizing, told SFGate, "A few days' pause of the killing of Palestinians is not enough. We need to permanently cease the violence immediately. We’ll be taking to the streets to ensure our politicians listen to us now." This sentiment clearly resonating, as many shoppers temporarily abandoned their retail pursuits to join the growing clamor for peace.
Arab Youth Organizing's efforts didn't stand alone, as demonstrations were orchestrated throughout the Bay Area. A notably sizable crowd assembled near the intersection of Shellmound Street and Ohlone Way in Emeryville. Waseem Hajj of the Arab Resource Organizing Center emphasized the importance of these protests in the wake of the temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which allowed for the release of hostages from Gaza, as stated by a CBS News San Francisco report.
With activists successfully bringing their message to some of the Bay Area's busiest commercial centers, such as Westfield Valley Fair mall in Santa Clara, which SFPD confirmed unfolded with no disruptions, the demonstrations marked a nonviolent but determined effort to highlight a conflict often overshadowed by the cacophony of consumerism. Helena Awwad further shared with CBS News San Francisco her personal resolve, "I'm here to fight for my family, and for the equality that we wanted for so long. That's why I got involved and ever since, I've been working with all these organizations that have been helping."
As a wave of similar demonstrations washed over shopping centers across the nation, from The Grove in Los Angeles to malls in New York and Chicago, the Arab Resource Organizing Center's message was amplified beyond the Bay Area. Despite the lure of holiday discounts and deals, these protesters managed to boldly seize the national narrative, if only for a day, to cast light on a distant struggle that refuses to be dismissed or forgotten amidst the din of our daily dealings.
