Supporters of Palestinians – and in some cases of Hamas – have been taking over roads leading to airports, blocking access at places including Chicago O’Hare, New York JFK, and Los Angeles and elsewhere.
This has been a huge inconvenience to travelers that are missing flights, and probably doesn’t gain any sympathy from them. Still, it’s probably better to protest at airports than the planned and since-cancelled protest at the Holocaust Museum. But what are they trying to accomplish exactly?
— Oliya Scootercaster (@ScooterCasterNY) December 27, 2023
JUST IN: Pro-Palestinian Protesters block highway and entrance to Chicago O'Hare International Airport..pic.twitter.com/FOitOJtTMr
— Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) December 24, 2023
Hamas supporters take over LAX. The reporter who called these "Pro Palestinian" protests is a propagandist for terrorists pic.twitter.com/1habCAwUVD
— Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) December 27, 2023
What happened on October 7 in Israel was disgusting. I don’t need to rehash the barbarity against civilians. There are still Americans being held in Gaza. It’s certainly heart-wrenching to watch, as well, people suffer in Gaza as Israel works to take down Hamas in response.
Protesters get attention by blocking airports. They demonstrate their power. And support for Israel probably does cost the Biden administration support among Democratic activists. Although the idea that they’d stay home in the 2024 election with Donald Trump on the ballot seems odd.
The question is, and I’d really like to understand the answer from protesters, is what do they want to see happen exactly?
- A ceasefire means Hamas re-arming. Is that actually the goal? Or is it just mood affiliation with ‘suffering bad’ (or, in many cases, Jews bad)? And if they really want a ceasefire, and Hamas to re-arm, then what happens after?
- How should Hamas be removed from power? They hide amongst civilians and use them as human shields. Civilian deaths during World War II are estimated at over 30 million. U.S. post-9/11 wars have cost the lives of nearly half a million civilians. War is devastating, tragic and unfair. What rules of engagement ought to apply to Israel and has any country ever upheld similar rules in a similar situation?
- Does Israel have a right to exist as a Jewish state? Many would argue that the entirety of the land (“from the river to the sea”) should be Palestinian, with Jews cleansed of the area. That is the goal of Hamas. Leaving them in power means they continue to fight for this goal.
jIf you believe Israel shouldn’t exist as a Jewish state, should Arab states be permitted to exist? If you think Israel should be permitted to exist, then how should they ensure their security against a force on their border that wants them dad?
Arab countries did nothing for Palestinaian sovereignty when they controlled Gaza, the West Bank and Golan Heights until the 1967 Arab-Israeli War (when they invaded and lost territory). Egypt, Jordan, and Syria could have declared one and did not. In fact, Israel is the only country ever to grant sovereignty to Palestinians.
When Palestinians were being killed in much larger numbers in Syria there were no blockades at the airports. There is a sense in which concern for Palestinians is now the ‘current thing’.
Now that Hamas has rejected Egypt’s peace plan – having the terrorists relinquish power and running real elections – no one has started protesting Hamas demanding a cease fire.
I believe that Israel has an obligation to prosecute the war as humanely as possible. And I think criticizing some of their moves is reasonable. But I’d love to hear what protesters would have Israel do, if they were suddenly Prime Minister – with a goal to preserve their country and the lives of its citizens, and bounded by electoral constraints that while real aren’t as severe as those Palestinian leaders have faced at the hands of Hamas.
Palestinians would have been better off with the UN partition plan in 1947 that Arab states rejected; with a state that was offered 20 years later; with the Clinton plan in 2000; and with Ehud Olmert’s plan. All were rejected.
The last great Israeli leader of peace was Ehud Olmert who offered 94% of the West Bank, with pre-1967 buffer zones split in half and a land swap of the balance from pre-1967 borders (involving land Israel acquired for its security after it was invaded). While Israel would exit small settlements in these areas, their own politics would not allow them to exit Gush Etzion, Ma’ale Adumim and Ariel hence the need for land swap, giving up land near Afula-Tirat Tzvi, Lachish, Har Adar, Judean desert.
The Ehud Olmert offer, developed with the Palestinian Authority over two years, included ceding sovereignty over the holy basin in Jerusalem which includes sites of importance to Muslims, Chritians and Jews – to be jointly administered by a group of nations including the Palestinian state. And they offered an international fund for Palestinians. Palestine would have been precluded from entering into a military agreement with a government that does not recognize Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin was assassinated for offering much less. Yet Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas rejected the deal. Hamas attacked Israel.
So what do you do? Is a cease fire your end game, what happens next? I don’t know exactly what works here. Certainly any peace has to mean Hamas’ exit from Gaza. Ideally Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates exert greater influence in the region (versus Iran proxy Hamas). The Saudis recognize Israel.
Then with the credible commitment to peace by regional players the Olmert proposal could become realistic again.
Anyone that blocks a road in protest (for any cause) deserves to be arrested and hopefully some driver took a few out. Put yourself in danger then don’t whine about the consequences
This is a criminal act which has no relation to free speech or opinion. These people should be dealt with as harshly as the law allows. It also demonstrates an incredible sense of radicalism among these people who so admire rape, torture, and murder of innocents that abandons ethics and morality and leads one to conclude that they’re willing to push the envelope towards doing much worse.
It was 40 people. 36 were arrested. Hardly a massive riot. It was cleared in a short time and life went on. Giving these idiots any attention just makes them do it again.
Anyone who misses their flight should be able to sue participants and organizers for related costs and issues.
When these sorts of things contribute to death, injury, or suffering (e.g. ambulances), participants and organizers should also be criminally responsible on par with drunk driving.
Way to get non-terrorist loving moderate voters against you. Pissing people off that you’re trying to convince is a great strategy. Keep it up.
A cease fire results in ending the ongoing slaughter of tens of thousands of women and children who just happened to be born in the wrong place.
If the concern is Hamas re-arming itself, Israel can end their previous practice of encouraging foreign powers to fund Hamas, and they could defend their border rather than leaving their civilian populace completely undefended for hours.
Does Israel have a right to exist as a Jewish state? Wrong question. Any country has the right to exist as a peaceful state. Israel isn’t one. Yes, Hamas’s stated position is elimination of Jewish people form the river to the sea – but Israel’s government has the same position in reverse: Settling Jews in the same territory.
Israel may not engage in the abjectly horrific treatment of civilians that Hamas did on October 7th. But in terms of causal killing of civilians, Israel is far worse than Hamas. And Israel inflicts FAR FAR more pain and suffering on Palestinians than the other way around.
As to the original question, you block airport entrances because it gets you a lot more attention to your cause per protestor than pretty much any other means of protest. (See: Your post.)
I actually don’t care what the cause is. Palestine, climate change, a rigged election, save the whales, whatever. Free speech does not give you the right to block public spaces. Everyone knows that reasonable time, place and manner restrictions on free speech are essential for a functioning society. There’s no reason to even consider the “worthiness” of the protest: you are simply not allowed to block highways for any reason whatsoever. You therefore need to arrest and punish the disruptive protesters to discourage others from engaging in similar behavior in the future.
I’m not sure why people don’t just run them over.
I drive from NJ to NYC daily, and if there’s a protestor that’s in the highway, I am running him down. Simple as that. I don’t know his intentions, and I’m not putting myself at personal risk. Don’t wanna get hit? Don’t run into oncoming traffic on a pedestrian free highway.
Protesters causing missed flights should be punished. Younger people support Arabs and older Americans support Israel. Since old people rarely protest, this is why we are seeing pro-Arab protests.
All sides have unclean hands to varying extent.
Israel used to be a terrorist state. They committed terrorist bombings in 1948. They still assassinate people but you have to give them credit that it scares the really bad guys. Netanyahu but not all Israelis refuse to recognize Palestinian right to exist as a state. Netanyahu is opposed to a 2 state solution. Israel will never consider the 1947 partition borders and they conquered and expelled Arabs within much of those borders.
Hamas is even worse. They are terrorists. However, accusing them of human shield use is weak. What do you expect them to do? Set up a base like Fort Hood or Fort Bragg? If they did, it would be bombed and flattened in 2 minutes.
A true 2 state solution is opposed by all. That would be to go back to the 1947 partition, compensate all Arabs and Jews for lost land, have a Bill of Rights so Jews in West Bank settlements can become Arab citizens or give up their house and move.
Unfortunately, the situation is that there will never be peace. Hamas is mad and will continue to be terrorists. Israel is really tough. Cross them and they will destroy you like they did to northern Gaza.
Stuff like this makes me happy I’m in a deep red state. We currently have a bill introduced that would hold any driver not liable for running over a protester in a public road. The red racks around me are cleaning their grill guards getting ready.
@Gary, being Jewish you are clearly biased. Why ignore mentioning 16000 dead Palestinians, >7000 murdered Palestinian children? Israel breaking international law, genocidal war in Gaza, humanitarian crisis a place where no human being can exist etc. You know the arguments and both side very well, but you choose to only mention one side. And as mentioned by the Israeli government (most recently the Israeli ambassador to the UK) there can be no two state solution.
You can thank the Iranians for all these troubles.
Bush junior invaded the wrong country, he should have invaded Iran…..
@ABC because Israel didn’t start it. That gives them the right to defend their country.
Go look at your daughter for a moment, and for a few moments pretend you lived in Gaza with your daughter and wife.
Now ask yourself the same questions as you did in your post. Are you Ok with your daughter and wife being harmed by the precision-bombs of Israel ‘cause you know … Israel has the right to defend itself. No problem, right? What’s another 2 added to 20,000. After all, wat isn’t fair.
Another question that can be asked is, if Hamas is removed, what is to stop something even worse from immediately forming. After all, if the conditions in pre-war Gaza remain as terrible as they were, and now there are literally hundreds of thousands of people who have lost family members to Israeli bombing, then why wouldn’t something else immediately arise? After all, Bush and Cheney stupidly invaded Iraq on the strength of their lies, removed Saddam…and created ISIS. But Hamas is dumb if it thinks it can wipe out Israel, which has atomic bombs. And their leaders aren’t dumb, so they milk the hate for all it is worth, clearly without really expecting a total victory. And around it goes.
If I had any sort of viable answer to all this I’d get a Nobel Peace Prize. Israel can’t keep these territories without destroying what’s left of the ideals that lead to its founding. I’m not sure how many of them are left anyway–the IDF seems to be acting like an abused child, and perhaps the whole country has PTSD. And with the settlements of fanatics in the West Bank it isn’t able to let go of those lands (and their water) either. But the occupation has turned into an impossible situation, something like the Grand Apartheid that the South African governments imagined where the black Africans would be squeezed into tiny “nations.” Meanwhile as usual it is the ordinary, peaceful people (on both sides) who suffer.
@Nick: Israel exists in part as a result of Jewish terrorism conducted against the British. The beginnings of Israel as a state also feature terrorism conducted against civilian Arab residents.
@JorgeGeorge Paez: But the Iranians could defend themselves.
@Christopher Raehl are you denying that Israel has a right to exist?
It should be legal to run over these scumbags when they block roads & streets.
@ Nick, you seem to have comprehension problems. I did not state that Israel could not do that. But is 16k or 160k dead Palestinians the appropriate response? This is no longer an outcome consistent with “defending your country”. It’s barbaric that 7000 Palestinian children are dead (and counting). As for the “right” size of the country of Israel, the UN (by passing Resolution 181 that created the state of Israel) keeps voting every year (156 yes, 9 no) urging an end to the Israeli occupation that began in 1967. I am only presenting you with facts. And in my mind the greatest error of the ultra right Israeli party is to not have an achievable outcome in mind.
Gary thank you for using your platform to explain the reality to people who may not understand what’s happening both in the USA and Israel.
These protests are scary and the result of a massive mobilisation by forces that are no friends of the West.
Please keep up the good work.
Know what the cops in Korea do? They have a water tanker with a fire hose mounted on top….then the batons come out. Makes pretty quick work of the “protest” and puts an end to the disruption.
The US is highly polarized and no amount of discussion is going to change most people’s mind.
THAT is not the point of this discussion and it shouldn’t be.
This article is intended to let people know the scope of these protests as they impact US airports.
THAT is a service that Gary should provide and every discussion about anything that remotely invokes feelings by one half or another (or both) of the country (and world) shouldn’t have to deteriorate in a debate.
Too bad Gary can’t put a multiple choice poll – without comment – that asks people to choose how they would respond to having an airport blocked by a protestor of any kind.
@Tim Dunn,
First half of the post was “intended to let people know the scope of these protests as they impact US airports.”
The second half was a political statement.
Like the NYT observed today, I just don’t see what the Israeli endgame is here. Hamas is constructed both modularly and with redundancies- there is no ending them through a war, any more than we could take out Islamic terrorism by invading Iraq or Afghanistan (or Iran, to another poster’s comment).
History demonstrates that violence onto a people only begets additional violence- there are more radicalized Palestinians today vs on Oct 6. Sure, Israel could employ the Tasmanian solution (settlers basically started at one end of the island and killed their way across, eliminating the Aboriginal problem permanently), but is genocide really a good look for a Jewish state?
But killing some Palestinians is just going to make the remaining ones more mad… And who’s going to pay for the on-going occupation/reconstruction of the Gaza Strip? And what’s going to happen when Israeli soldiers continue to get killed in Gaza? This does not seem like a very well thought out military action…
Your article does not really match the points and miles theme i wish people would stick to since i try to avoid the news…but WELL said.
1. Protestors should be allowed EVEN when you disagree with them. Palestinians grew up with what they grew up with and I understand how hard it is for them..but you cannot block roads. That is 100% going to get you put in jail.
2. Hamas is terrorist organization that started a war with attacks directly against civilians. I have no idea what the Palestinians are looking for but Israel is going to fight until Hamas is gone.
Since some time after someone in Minneapolis died after he couldn’t breathe, LAWA declared LAX “closed to the general public 24/7” (repeatedly announced in terminals nowadays). Passengers, transporters and workers only. Once you cross beyond the western curb of Sepulveda you’re trespassing.
But the “closed area” doesn’t include Eagle’s Nest or TBIT West. Wait until protesters buy refundable tickets and stake out in those two terminals, especially TBIT West which isn’t closed at night.
What did you think they mean when they say “Globalize the Inttifada!”. These are the worst of the worst of the radical elements who wish to see US Imperlalism end at any cost (including supporting any, and I mean any government or org in the world that is it’s enemy).
Interesting to see the shoehorn phenomenon at it’s brightest – right wing extremists finding common cause with Islamists and with left-wing communists. One common thing – they all hate jews (some just hide behind “zionists”).
This isn’t a US phenomenon too – all over the world these scumbags are finding common cause against the jews.
The pro-Palestinians are taking a page from BLM because it worked.
On that note, run em over if they block roads to airports
Half measures lead to the forever wars we’ve endured the last few decades. It’s simple, if someone attacks you, kill as many of their soldiers, leaders and yes even civilians, until they say “no mas” and surrender unconditionally. That is war. And if you start one you can’t complain about the response.
Hamas doesn’t play by the international rule book for how to conduct civilized combat, because their only concern is victory. And they will sacrifice their entire population if it means victory. So why hold Israel to a standard that their enemies completely disregard?
Hamas can kill civilians but Israel can’t? And yeah, Israel can do it better because they are the stronger military power. It’s the equivalent of me going up to an MMA fighter and punching his daughter in the face, then complaining It’s not fair that he kicks my ass after.
Sorry. Israel is not perfect. Neither is the US. But there are 2 sides to the coin and only one will win. I choose western civilization and liberal democracy over theocratic, autocratic and oligarchy any day. No nuance. No grey area. Just win or lose. And 99% of the Americans protesting against Israel wouldn’t survive a month in the Palestinian territories. Just try telling them about women’s rights or mis-gendering or LGBTQ+ rights. You’ll be stoned to death by sunrise. Tell me I’m wrong.
“people suffer in Gaza” is the most polite term I’ve heard for genocide in a while. Over a thousand children in Gaza have had amputations without anasthesia. Israel mass murder of Palestinians needs to stop and these protestors join a long history of nonviolent direct action. They are attempting to shut down the cities and force the U.S. to stop aiding and arming this slaughter. Good for them. Further, a people under military occupation have a right to resist. Zionists stole land and attempted to lock people up on reservations or bantustans. Maybe read a tiny bit of history of the genocide of native americans by european settlers and their armies. Wake up.
You seem biased. Hamas softened its position in the recent years and wanted a two state solution quite some time but things didn’t improve, especially under the Trump administration. So they are getting desperate.and Israel knew the attack before it happened, yet using it as a way to advance their agenda…and you fail to mention the Israeli settlements and how horrible they have been before Oct 7. I am not trying to defend Israel but at least I am not as biased and brainwashed like as Americans.
@ Tim — But what is most profitable? Isn’t that all that matters in your world?
@Gary – I’d agree more if Israel didn’t have a large proportion of its population who don’t really object to wiping out all of the Palestinians (as you say many Palestinians feel about Israelis) and a lot more who favor the perpetual taking of Palestinian lands through settlements then are fine with terrorizing or killing the Palestinians who object to having their land stolen. Israel’s good name has been horribly sullied by the de facto Apartheid state they’ve created and the way in which they have created it.
I don’t have a good solution to this war but I’m pretty sure that avenging 1200 murders by murdering tens of thousands of innocents is not a viable solution. As to your rhetorical question about what I would do if I were PM of Israel, I would have some concrete plan about what qualifies as victory, what the plan was after that victory, and make those plans public. No plan will make everyone happy but the way it looks, Israel embarked on this invasion of Gaza without announcing any goal except wiping out Hamas. No Israeli plan addressing any underlying problems that ignited the barbaric October 7 attacks, no plan to minimize civilian deaths, no plan to control rampaging settlers in the West Bank, and certainly no plan to govern Gaza in a sufficiently reasonable manner after the big fighting is done to avoid a resurgence of Hamas or another equivalent group. That makes the monumentally poorly planned change of government in Afghanistan by the Bush administration look like the picture of foresight and civility.
@Ken “Hamas softened its position” that is really something of a claim
@Frank – I think you need to clarify for yourself what genocide means, since the Palestinian population has doubled in 20 years.
“Zionists stole land” is also generally false.
@ABC – there can be “no two state solution” when one of those states is dedicated to the destruction of the other
Probably the most ignorant comment here comes from Christopher Raehl, equating “Hamas’s stated position is elimination of Jewish people form the river to the sea” with “Settling Jews in the same territory.”
I think those settlements are a bad idea, and several peace offers have included not just limitations on where Jews can live but dismantling some as well, though their own politics prevents abandonment of all of them. And Hamas terrorism has created a politics of fear in Israel, that’s brought harder line politicians to power.
Saying that Israel is worse than Hamas is sure something.
It is notable that pro-Hamas commenters don’t seem to answer the key questions,
– what do you do after a ceasefire, when Hamas rearms?
– what would a peace look like that allows for the existence of a Jewish state rather than wiping them out?
The smart commenters here observe that any end game is messy, that it may not be possible to root out Hamas (or that any replacements may not be better), though the key here is the role of Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. if they can be convinced to take one. Israel cannot govern Gaza, other Arab states need to step in and it’s in their interest to act as a counterweight to Iranian proxies.
Some here think that Israel should be wiped out, that Jews cleansed because reasons. I find that disgusting. But if you start from a place that (1) Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state, and (2) that the lives of Palestinians should be better, then you start to realize that Hamas needs to be eliminated (they are the primary oppressors of Palestinians in Gaza) and that Arab states need to recognize Israel and actively support the building of a new Palestinian governance – that creates credibility and peace, allowing for a two state solution that’s probably along the lines of the Olmert plan from 2006-2008.
Palestinians would have been far better off had their leaders been allowed to accept a state that didn’t destroy Israel many many times over the last 75 years.
1) Why do people block roads to promote their cause? Because it’s an efficient way for a small group of people to draw attention to themselves. Basically guerilla tactics.
2) All the questions Gary had requesting nuance and specifics? It doesn’t matter to these people. They don’t think beyond “oppressor vs. oppressed” and then blindly promote whatever the “oppressed” wants.
My question is why the USA has seen such a sharp rise in Marxist zealots in the past 10-15 years.
“and Israel knew the attack before it happened,”
OK so if they had taken this military action BEFORE the attack, to prevent it from happening, you would have supported that? Time to turn off CNN, MSNBC, etc.
If it’s ok to shut down airport access roads in support of murder, rape and torture, it should also be ok to use your accelerator to reimagine said protesters as pothole filler.
The question to me isn’t what should be happening in the Middle East, but why people think that the Israel-Palestine situation justifies blocking roads here in the U.S. What does one thing have to do with the other? 99% of the people on their way to the airport aren’t traveling to Israel. How does blocking roads garner any sympathy for their cause? It seems more likely to just tick people off.
I’m not aware of any situation where anyone has ever blocked traffic to promote a cause that I already support — and doing so certainly isn’t going to change my views in the protesters’ favor.
Lots of great comments. It may make more sense if you don’t look at it through the lens of the Israel/Palestinian Conflict, but realize that these Protesters are the same Progressives with the same wacky world view on everything else.
Proportionality: In response to Japan killing 2,403 Americans at Pearl Harbor, the US killed millions of Japanese military and civilians until Japan unconditionally surrendered. Israel must keep killing Hamas until they unconditionally surrender. The US did not merely bomb one Japanese port and kill 2,403 Japanese in response.
@Gary: By the numbers, Israel is unquestionably worse than Hamas, and everyone else in the region, and has been since before its inception. A key factor in Britain abandoning the Palestine Mandate was terrorism conducted by Jews against the British, followed by terrorism conducted against Arabs. (Israel won, so that’s been re-written into ‘revolution’ and ‘defense’.) Israel exists as a Jewish state in part as a result of radical Jews driving Palestinian Arabs from their land and homes, when they weren’t just killing them outright.
Radical Zionism continues to this day, sponsored by the Israeli government, as evidenced by decades of illegal settlement construction in the occupied territories.
Hamas slaughtered 1200 people on October 7. Israel has slaughtered 20,000 people since, and thousands before that. The difference is Israel maims children by flying their bombs on planes first. Maybe we should give Hamas bomber jets so they can also “defend” themselves?
Hamas kidnapped about 240 people from Israel. They’re swapping those hostages for the thousands of Palestinians Israel had already kidnapped.
To everyone who is saying, this is war, don’t stop until you’ve annihilated the enemy by any means necessary: You don’t seem to realize that you are agreeing with Hamas. If it’s OK for Israel to do anything to eliminate Hamas, it is just as “ok” for Hamas to do anything to eliminate Israel. More ok; prior to October 7, Israel had essentially held 20 million people prisoner in the Gaza Strip – it’s ridiculous to expect people to just accept imprisonment.
The reality is there are millions of Israelis and Palestinians who would like nothing more than to have a peaceful coexistence, and they are denied that existence by extreme governments whose own continued existence depends on continued conflict. That codependency is so strong that the Israeli government has itself been participating in funding Hamas.
Official Israeli government policy is confine Palestinians to certain areas, gradually seize their property, and drop bombs on women and children should any resist.
Brutally slaughtering 1,200 civilians is an atrocity. So is brutally slaughtering 20,000.
And Israel is showing no signs of stopping, even though they are tactically accomplishing nothing other than getting their soldiers killed.
Thank you Gary. You didn’t say “Oslo” but close enough.
Britain and France caused this mess, the US and the Soviets paid for it, but at the end of the day, the lack of a 2-state solution is on the “Arab world”. Yes Egypt and Saud have done their part, but they could both do more, and the only way the middle east transitions from petro is with PEACE.
I would like to point a finger at the Sunnis and Shiites: GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER. There is a lot of money to be made and the Chinese are going to move in if you don’t sort out your own house first.
I do want to be incredibly clear that the Israeli government does not equal Jewish people and Hamas does not equal Palestinians. Only a small portion of each population group is responsible for the violence.
@DC not in DC: What would you do if a minority population drove you from your homes and continued seizing your territory?
In your analogy, the US is Arabs living in Palestine and Japan is Israel. By your logic, Palestinians shouldn’t stop until Israel is annihilated.
@Hagbard Celine: Actually, Zionists caused this mess, with a strong assist from global anti-semitism that forced Jews to try and find a place where they would be accepted / not persecuted.
Unfortunately that has been accomplished by ‘paying it forward’ to the people who were already living in Israel/Palestine.