Boston University Bridge blocked by protesters calling for cease-fire in Israel-Hamas war
BOSTON - Dozens of protesters blocked traffic for about two hours Thursday morning on the Boston University Bridge at Commonwealth Avenue.
The group calls itself "IfNotNow" and says they're "a movement of American Jews" demanding that Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren "support an immediate ceasefire" in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
"We need our elected officials, Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, and other electeds to speak out and say that this cannot continue, that we need safety and liberation for Palestinians," IfNotNow member Emma Rose Borzekowski said. "So far she has not heard our call. As my senator, I am begging her to call for a cease-fire, to do everything she can to stop ceaseless killing of thousands of people."
Thursday afternoon, Warren posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. She did not use the phrase "cease-fire," but called for a stop to bombings in Gaza.
The crisis in Gaza is growing. Israeli airstrikes are destroying residential buildings and public infrastructure. Restrictions on humanitarian aid make life even harder. Stop the bombing NOW.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) November 16, 2023
Boston Police and Massachusetts State Police detoured traffic around the bridge during the protest. Cambridge Police did the same on the Memorial Drive side of the bridge. The protesters moved off the road around 10 a.m.
There was tension at one point. A Jewish Israeli Boston University student was out for a run when he came across the protest. He got into an altercation with the group and as he confronted protesters, police pulled him away.
The student, who only identified himself as Raviv, said "there's no way to simply cease fire."
"Coming up and blocking the bridge and calling for a cease-fire, that just breaks my heart," he told reporters. "The bad guys are not the Palestinians or Gaza, they're Hamas. We should be fighting them together. The entire world should stand behind Israel right now and the Palestinians and the Palestinians in Gaza, they are hurting just as much as we are because of Hamas."
"Calling for a cease-fire means you absolutely have no idea what would happen if Israel would just lay its arms down," Raviv said.
According to CBS News, Israel is considering a proposal that would have Hamas release some of the hostages the Palestinian militant group is holding in the Gaza Strip in exchange for a three-to-five-day cease-fire in the war.
About 240 hostages were taken when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7.