Can someone please calmly explain how blocking a freeway across an ocean and a country on a different continent, is supposed to have any effect on a political issue in the middle east?
The idea is of course to bring attention to the fact that the US is funding Israel and giving them weapons. We also have some pull in the world and if we wanted to make it a thing, we could no doubt get all support for them in the area put on hold until they turned their shit around and stopped shooting/bombing anyone not in an IDF uniform.
Some pull? The US is funding this war. Israel is getting so much in free money from your taxes it should make you sick to your stomach
I said some pull because the UK and others would still need to get on board to do a blanket “cease-fire if you want aid” type statement. The US alone would only be a bump for them, but since they already have weapons they have bought from us for years, and aid coming in from other countries it would mean they wouldn’t need to pay any attention right away.
Choking out the sugar daddy money would be a massive swing for their budget that they could not afford. We give them a disgustingly disproportionate amount of aid money.
We also have some pull in the world
Which is currently being used to defend Israel. Can’t forget that part.
FWIW, this is one of the most common forms of protest in Seattle since BLM. It’s not necessarily newsworthy to us locals! And yes, to confirm, most people in the city get pretty annoyed with protestors when it happens. A lot of people late to work, missing medical appointments, stranded with kids in the car, etc.
Last time I was held up by these people, I was on my way to try to pick up my dog’s cancer medication. So no, I don’t sympathize with them.
My dog’s cancer medication is more important than the wars in the Middle East, too
“Only one thing can ever matter at a time”.
Eh we did it back protesting invading Iraq. Didn’t do anything then.
But Seattle wasn’t Amazon back then.
No, we didn’t stop the war. I marched with 300k people in Washington (a lot of veterans) and we still didn’t stop the war. But I think the widespread and global protests of the Iraq war made it clear that the US was going to wage war despite its unpopularity, evidence, allies backing out, etc. A similar thing appears to be happening now with the backlash to Israel’s Hamas response.
Here’s a good column about what those protests writ large “accomplished.” https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/20-year-anniversary-of-iraq-war-protests
Hey guys, another local checking in to say protest is cool and effective protest is even cooler!
You might even say that people being late to work is exactly the economic impact that such a protest is designed to create.
damn i should work in Seattle so i can use this as an excuse to get out of work
Because the US has a massive hand in that political issue in the middle east.
Well they are funding it with those protestors’ tax dollars
Oh yeah that too.
If I was American I would also be livid, like what the fuck are you guys doing
I mean, our tax dollars regularly go to heinous shit. Just the fact that like 50% of the US budget for living memory goes to the military means that you’re already starting deeply in the moral red.
Also the even more direct fact that Israel exists primarily to provide the US control over middle eastern oil. It’s an air base and port and provides air space through which to it can attack countries in the region. The constant war carried out by Israel against neighbors and within it’s own border destabalizes the region, making it easier to maintain US supported authoritarians.
Making life harder for people in cars is actually direct action against one of the root causes of the genocide. If you are in a car, you are complicit in genocide.
A lot of what these protests are trying to do is make it harder to ignore the reality of what is happening.
Now I agree these kind of protests don’t gain support. But they’re not trying to win support: they’re trying to make people aware of the problem as one that shosuldn’t be ignored.
The gamble is the cause is important enough and sympathetic enough that forcing people to be aware of it might get people towards political action. Even if it is just calling their representstive and going ‘wtf’.
For Americans every dollar we earn at work and every cent of tax we pay is a contributing factor in the conflict. But many are aware and think that is just fine. That is my personal concern with this protest: a lot of Americans are completely stoked about it and protesting just makes them shrug and go ‘purple hairs lol’.
In a society where a huge portion of us are on the cusp of homelessness any threat to your livelihood seems like a threat on your life. I dont agree with it but I totally understand why some people run these protesters over. Last time I heard about one of these they were blocking a mother trying to get her kid to an ER in London. There is an older video of a guy begging them to move so he doesn’t lose his job and go back to prison (part of his parole). Threatening peoples livelihoods to make them agree with your politics sounds a lot like terrorism and I absolutely hate these kinds of protests. They could at least leave one lane open so people are slowed and see your message still but they dont. Also how privileged are these people that they can do this and dont have to go work instead? Must be really nice to have enough that you dont have to worry about making rent this month or feeding your children
a society where a huge portion of us are on the cusp of homelessness any threat to your livelihood seems like a threat on your life
Land of the free…
Threatening peoples livelihood… sounds a lot like terrorism
It absolutely does.
I hope these protesters are jailed, because this nonsense is a violation of a whole host of social norms, and we have laws against it for good reason. I don’t think they would be charged with terrorism though unless they threaten to keep doing it to make a political point. But jail time should absolutely be on the table.
That said, I agree that Palestine should be independent. However, this stunt does not make me sympathetic to their cause, and I’ll ignore their entire platform and make my own decisions. If they protested in front of symbolic institutions (say, the capitol in Olympia, or at Seattle Center in front of the Space Needle), I would be more sympathetic. But screw these people and I hope they get what’s coming to them.
That said, this could be a good time to discuss mass transit. If transit were better in the region, this wouldn’t be nearly as impactful. Seattle doesn’t have many good options to get to and through the city, so moving as much traffic off it as possible has a ton of value.
don’t have to go to work
Paid and unpaid time off are a thing.
