FoundSF

Historical Essay

by Michael Souliman, 2025

Student newspaper at San Francisco State, 2002.

The history of the anti-zionist movement in San Francisco shifted largely from the Jewish community in the 1940s to the Arab diaspora in the 1970s, and now support for the movement has significant overlap between the two communities in the wake of the conflict in Gaza. The movement in SF was initially fueled by the Classical Reform Jewish community in the 1940s, who largely opposed the Zionist project, but that support faded in the 1970s when support for the movement was more prominent among the Arab community. From the 1970s until today, support for the movement at SF State and UC Berkeley grew across both communities.

Following the abandonment of the movement by the larger Jewish community, the Palestinian diaspora in the city became more prominent supporters of the movement, notably at SF State. One milestone was the founding of the General Union of Palestine Students (GUPS) at SF State in 1973 (Leon & Reno 5). GUPS was among the first Palestinian student groups in the U.S., formed at a time when the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was officially shunned by the U.S. government. Its creation signaled the emergence of a diasporic Palestinian identity on campus, deeply connected to anti-colonial movements abroad, with support from many other student groups (Trent 37).

A turning point came in October 1985, when extremist Israeli rabbi Meir Kahane, an avowed anti-Arab demagogue, visited SF State. Kahane, then an Israeli Knesset member and founder of the Jewish Defense League, openly called for expelling Arabs from Israel. His presence on campus sparked fury and fear among Arab students. GUPS and allies mobilized a protest of about 75 pro-Palestinian students outside the lecture hall, some hoisting banners likening Kahane’s rhetoric to Hitler’s (Foster & Palermo 15). Osama Doumani, a local ADC spokesman, declared at the rally that “Kahane has created an anti-Arab, hysterical atmosphere” that encourages violence against Arabs (Doumani Speech). He pointed to the recent assassination of Alex Odeh, ADC’s West Coast director, killed by a pipe bomb in Southern California just weeks earlier, as evidence that “Arabs pay the price” for rising anti-Arab hate. Doumani’s words, a firsthand account of the fear gripping the community, underscore how global Zionist extremism translated into local trauma for Arab San Franciscans in the mid-’80s. Importantly, many Jewish San Franciscans also rejected Kahane’s brand of Zionism. On campus that day, the Jewish Student Action Committee held a simultaneous demonstration of ~200 students under a banner reading, “In the Mideast and here at State, Jews and Arabs must stop the hate. Negotiate!” (Foster & Palermo 16).

The First Intifada (Palestinian uprising of 1987–1993) further energized San Francisco’s Arab community. As images of stone-throwing youth facing down Israeli troops spread globally, local Palestinian Americans organized demonstrations, fundraisers for medical relief, and educational forums to inform the Bay Area public. College campuses were hotbeds: at UC Berkeley and SF State, students held teach-ins on the Intifada, often invoking the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa as an analogy (Trent 1, Rascoe 2).

The outbreak of the Second Intifada in late 2000 marked another flashpoint. In San Francisco, mass rallies erupted in response to images of intensified violence in the Holy Land. On April 9, 2002—amid Israel’s heavy military incursions in the West Bank (Operation Defensive Shield)—SF State’s Malcolm X Plaza teemed with an estimated 900 protesters condemning Israeli actions (Trent Gallery, Golden Gate Xpress, April 11, 2002, shown above). That noon, Palestinian students and allies chanted while holding signs reading “Free Palestine”; the protest spilled into the surrounding streets and even led to a solidarity march to UC Berkeley. A contemporaneous campus newspaper described how “hundreds of students and activists carrying signs, waving Palestinian flags and chanting ‘Free Free Palestine!’ blocked traffic on 19th Avenue” on April 9. This unprecedented turnout reflected how deeply the local Arab diaspora felt the Intifada’s toll—many had relatives in the affected areas. One SF State student, quoted at the time, said, “I feel pain when I watch what Israel is doing to Palestine … I cry and feel sick when I think about these crimes.” (Trent Gallery, Golden Gate Xpress, April 11, 2002).

Palestinian student activism thrived in the 2000s. GUPS at SF State was rejuvenated with new members, and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapters sprang up at other Bay Area campuses. Off campus, community groups coordinated vigils, teach-ins, and cultural events (like Palestinian film festivals and Nakba memorials) to keep public attention on the issue. In 2005, Palestinian civil society launched the global BDS movement (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) against Israel, and Bay Area activists enthusiastically took up the call. San Francisco’s Arab Resource & Organizing Center (AROC), founded in the mid-2000s, became a linchpin of local BDS campaigns. AROC’s vision explicitly linked the liberation of Arab communities “from the Bay Area to our homelands” (AROC 1), reflecting the transnational mindset of this generation. They organized boycott actions and pressured local institutions (from food co-ops to tech companies) to drop contracts with Israel-affiliated firms. By framing Palestinian freedom as interconnected with other struggles—prison abolition, racial justice, etc.—groups like AROC broadened the anti-Zionist coalition.

Works Cited

"Arab Resource and Organizing Center." Arab Resource and Organizing Center, https://www.araborganizing.org/. Accessed 25 May 2025.

Fortier, Julia, and Palermo, Dave. "600 Protest Appearance by Kahane at S.F. Benefit." Los Angeles Times, 29 Oct. 1985.

Leon, Blanca, and Mar Reno. action/ "San Francisco State Students for Gaza Organize for Mass Action!" Workers' Voice/La Voz de los Trabajadores, 18 May 2024.

Rascoe, Ayesha. "In the 1980s, He Led Student Protests. Now, He's a College Dean." NPR, 5 May 2024.

Trent, Paisley. "The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict on Campus." Golden Gate Xpress, 1 Dec. 2020.