Over 100 Sacramento Jews protest Senator Alex Padilla as part of actions against genocide in Gaza

Sacramento, CA (August 27) — As they chanted and sang, over 100 members of Jewish Voice for Peace Sacramento and their allies staged a dramatic sit-in in the lobby of Kimpton Sawyer Hotel in downtown Sacramento as U.S. Senator Alex Padilla participated as a "featured guest" in Politico’s corporate funded inaugural California policy summit.  

They demanded that Senator Padilla and Senator Adam Schiff take "immediate action" to let food and aid into Gaza and stop arming the Israeli military as it wages genocide in Gaza. No arrests were made at the Sacramento protest. 

Participants held banners proclaiming "Sac To Padilla - Stop Funding Genocide, "Let Gaza Live," and "Never Again Now." They also wore identical black t-shirts emblazoned with "Jews Say Let Gaza Live" and "Let Gaza Live" on the front and "Stop Arming Israel" on the back.  

Governor Gavin Newsom was the headliner at the event that also featured Catherine Reheis-Boyd, the outgoing CEO of the Western States Petroleum Association, the largest and most powerful corporate lobbying group in Sacramento that lobbies for Chevron and other oil companies. The "presenting sponsors" of the event were the California Resources Corporation, formerly known as Occidental Petroleum, the Cal Chamber and the California Alliance for Jobs. The supporting sponsors were airbnb and JP Morgan Chase. 

The sit-in was followed by a public rally in DOCO Plaza outside of the hotel from 4:30-6 pm for community members to join and demand that Senators Padilla and Schiff take immediate action to stop the genocide. Organizers again led the group in a series of chants and songs. 

This action came just hours after hundreds of California Jews protested in Senator Schiff’s office in Los Angeles and Senator Padilla’s office in San Francisco. In San Francisco, 138 people were arrested after protesters occupied the lobby of Sen. Alex Padilla’s office to demand action against the Gaza genocide. 

"All across the state Jewish Californians and other people of conscience California are crying out, 'Never again is now' and 'Let Gaza Live' as they demand CA Senators listen to their constituents and stop supporting Israel’s genocide," according to a statement from JVP Sacramento.  

"Growing up Jewish taught me that we are commanded to pursue peace and justice -- and that the hungry must be fed," said David Mandel, a member of JVP Sacramento. "We're fed up with politicians who bemoan the massacres and starvation but keep voting to send arms to the perpetrator of genocide. We are Jewish Californians here to hold our Senators responsible. If "Never Again" means anything, it means for Palestinians right now."  

The protest was part of a Jewish-led day of action across California -- with civil disobedience actions in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Sacramento, and a protest in San Diego -- calling on both California Senators, Schiff and Padilla, "to account for their insistence on sending weapons to Israel despite its genocide and starvation of Palestinians in Gaza," organizers said. 

The group said the Israeli military is starving the people of Gaza through a five month total blockade on food, water and medicine, while the Israeli government has announced a plan to forcibly transfer hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into a concentration camp.  

On July 31, both Senators Schiff and Padilla voted no on Senator Bernie Sanders’ Joint Resolutions of Disapproval to block weapons to Israel, going against the majority of Senators in their own party and the voice of their constituents, according to the group. Recent polling shows 60% of Americans do not approve of Israel’s military actions.  

"At today’s sit-in and rally, JVP is calling on Senators Padilla and Schiff to listen to the majority of Californians and Americans who do not want their tax dollars to be spent on bombs or mass starvation," according to the group. 

Besides calling on Senators Padilla and Schiff, the protest participants called on other California politicians and one corporation to take a stand against the genocide in Gaza. 

In a call and response chant, the activists shouted out: "We're looking at you: Gavin Newsom, Katie Porter, Xavier Becerra, Chad Bianco, Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, Scott Weiner, and Laura Spanjian from Airbnb, California. California, should be leading the fight, to divest from death and invest in life!"