Wave of pro-Palestinian protests closes bridges, major roads across U.S.

Pro-Palestinian protests were also reported in Philadelphia, Chicago, Miami and San Antonio. Demonstrators’ targets ranged from major highways such as Interstate 5 in Eugene, Ore., to a countryside road leading to an aircraft engine manufacturer in Middletown, Conn. Protesters also blocked roads leading to O’Hare International Airport in Chicago and Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Washington state, prompting travelers to walk their suitcases across roads on foot.

The protests that began in the morning in the Bay Area, Chicago, Philadelphia, Miami, San Antonio, Eugene and Middletown had been cleared as of Monday evening, according to authorities and local news. Protesters had been cleared from the expressway to Seattle-Tacoma Airport and the road was reopening, the airport announced at about 6 p.m. local time.

Police arrested dozens of people in several cities, but no significant violence had been reported as of Monday evening.

Protesters have stalled traffic, closed streets, disrupted daily life and interrupted events in major U.S. cities intermittently since the beginning of the Israel-Gaza war, but few have concurrently or consecutively affected travel in as many parts of the country as on Monday.

Activists on social media called the Tax Day demonstrations a coordinated day of economic protest against the Israel-Gaza war. Among the banners that protesters unfurled across the country’s highways were calls to “stop the world for Gaza” and for the United States to stop sending arms to Israel.

The Israel-Gaza war began shortly after Hamas militants attacked Israel, killed about 1,200 people and took hostages Oct. 7, according to Israeli authorities. At least 33,797 people have been killed and 76,465 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says the majority of the dead are women and children.

The United States has given more aid to Israel than any other country since World War II, The Washington Post reported this month, and it may give more if Congress approves.

In a call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this month, President Biden pressed the Israeli leader to “address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers” in besieged Gaza, which has faced months of near-famine conditions and a lack of medical care.