Seventy-five protesters gathered under threatening skies at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California at 6:30 am on Wednesday, November 20. Their mission: to speak out and briefly interrupt the shipment of weapons to Israel from this air base.
For 90 minutes, they showed banners such as “Stop Arms for War Crimes” and “Stop Travis: No US Weapons for Genocide. ” They delayed traffic on the busy six-lane roadway into the base by frequently pressing the button to allow pedestrian crossing. Fliers were handed out to receptive drivers. The flyers asked “Why are we blocking access to Travis Air Base and messing up your day?”. It was explained that while November 20 is World Children’s Day, weapons to Israel from Travis are being used to kill children. Bombs loaded onto planes at Travis and other US air bases have killed many thousands of children.
David Vidmar grew up on Travis Air Base. He said, “I am participating in the People’s Arms Embargo to honor my father as he would have been sickened by the indiscriminate targeting, slaughter and starvation of Gazan children and women in Israel’s genocide.”
In the second stage of the protest, protesters completely blocked the roadways into the base. Ultimately, they shut down all of the entry points to the base before Fairfield police arrived en masse and arrested those blocking the roadway. A total of 28 persons were arrested for blocking the north, south, and main entry gates to Travis AFB.
Some of those arrested were processed in a few hours. Ten persons were still in Solano County Jail six hours after the action. It is not known when they will be released. They include Toby Blome, David Hartsough and others who were organizers of this action.
The protesters have been charged with blocking the road and “not following a lawful order”.
Many people globally believe the US is violating international law by continuing to provide weapons for what the International Court of Justice describes as “plausible genocide”. One year ago many prominent US State Department and USAID officials criticized the Biden policy of blanket support for Israel. Yet it continues unabated. Today’s action at Travis AFB highlights the discrepancy.
Rick Sterling is an independent journalist based in the SF Bay Area. He can be reached at rsterling1@gmail.com.