Global “Shutdown for Palestine” mobilizes local protestors to call for an end to Israel’s siege on Gaza

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Thursday morning, protestors gathered outside of Representative Salud Carbajal’s office to demand an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, an end to all military aid to Israel, a lifting of the siege on Gaza, and including the word “Palestine” when talking about the killing of civilians in Gaza.

"What is effectively happening is a people's history, a people's identity is being erased. And we cannot allow the erasure of our Palestinian brothers and sisters,” said protester Leah Dehmohseni, who drove from Ventura to show her solidarity for the cause.

In a little over a month, Israeli has killed over 10,000 Palestinians in the Gaza strip, following Hamas’ killing of 1,400 Israelis on Oct. 7. 

Though Israel has agreed to temporary pauses on the bombing and airstrikes of civilians, human rights advocates said it's not enough.

They called on representative Salud Carbajal to sign on to a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire. 

“We are staring genocide in the face. A humanitarian pause is not sufficient. What does that mean? That means we will give you a sip of water before we allow the Israeli military to bomb you with our weapons or funded by the US government. That's wrong. We need a ceasefire and we are asking Congressman Carbajal to sign on,” said Codepink Organizer Marcy Winograd.

Congressman Salud Carbajal saidd Thursday's announcement of a pause is a positive step. 

“A balanced approach that supports both Israel's right to self-defense and the safety of the people of Gaza is the only way we can return to a path toward a peaceful and sustainable solution,” said Carbajal.

He added that by brokering an agreement with Israel to allow for a pause in military operations, efforts can be advanced to get civilians out of harms way and get humanitarian aid to those in need.

Whether the pause will be a successful attempt to save lives has yet to be determined.