A group of roughly 100 protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza snarled traffic near LAX on Friday evening as a busy weekend of holiday travel got underway.
A protest run by “an unaffiliated group of Palestinians, Jews, and Angelenos of conscience” that began around 3 p.m. at a park across from the Los Angeles International Airport went on for hours now as protesters marched around the airport, blocking traffic and facing off with police.
Police tried to block the group near 96th Street and Vicksburg Avenue, and again near 98th Street, but the protesters kept moving.
“As an anti-Zionist Jew, I feel like I have a moral responsibility to join others and enact the idea that our safeties, our solidarities, our futures are intertwined,” said 30-year-old LA resident Benjamin Kersten, an organizer with the protest.
The group briefly blocked a ramp leading to the airport’s entrance but turned around after the LAPD and the Los Angeles Airport Police blocked off the ramp.
“Significant traffic congestion” can be expected around the airport, according to a post on X from LAX.
Significant traffic congestion reported at LAX. Police are managing traffic. For updates, follow @LAAirportPD. #LAXalert #LAXtraffic
— LAX Airport (@flyLAXairport) December 16, 2023
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
It was unclear if the protest has caused the delays of any flights at the airport. More than 700,000 people are expected to travel through LAX before Christmas, according to the Transportation Security Administration.
As of 6:30 p.m., the group had mostly dispersed.
Source: Orange County Register
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