Pro-Palestinian protesters shut down 405 Freeway in West L.A.

Pro-Palestinian protesters briefly shut down the 405 Freeway in West Los Angeles on Tuesday morning during rush hour.

The group sat in lanes and blocked traffic shortly after 9 a.m. and brought traffic to a standstill on the southbound side of the freeway, according to the California Highway Patrol’s traffic log.

The protesters were calling for the U.S. to end its support of Israel as it carries out its deadly war on Gaza. The group was cleared shortly before 9:30 a.m. and the freeway was reopened after several vehicles abandoned by the protesters were removed, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Isabel Diaz, but none of the vehicles were towed.

Traffic was affected for about 15 to 20 minutes. Nine people were arrested on suspicion of unlawful assembly and failure to disperse, the CHP said.

“Accessing state freeways or roads to protest is unlawful and extremely dangerous because it puts protestors, motorists, and first responders at great risk of injury or death,” the CHP said in a news release. “The CHP will not tolerate the actions of a small group that unlawfully prevent commuters from making it to their jobs, medical appointments, personal engagements, and many other daily activities.”

The Los Angeles chapter of If Not Now shared images of the protesters holding up signs on the freeway to commemorate a Jewish day of mourning and fasting.

“To all those stuck in traffic, we sincerely apologize for the disruption to your day,” the group said in its Instagram post. “We are especially sorry to the working class people whose lives have been affected. As a cross-class organization, we have a deep understanding of the impact of this kind of action. However, we also know that what hurts working class people more than standstill traffic is our tax money being spent on military aid to Israel while working families struggle to make ends meet in our own communities.”

If Not Now is a national organization of American Jews who advocate for “the end of the US support of Israel’s apartheid system,” according to its mission statement.

A spokesperson for the group said about 40 people participated in the protest and nine people were arrested.

The group said its protest was directed at Vice President Kamala Harris as it calls for the Democratic Party to reject the the pro-Israel lobbying group American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

In an Instagram post from Tuesday’s protest, If Not Now called for Harris to reject AIPAC and “do everything possible to achieve a permanent ceasefire and hostage exchange, starting with support for an immediate arms embargo.”

The protest was held on Tisha B’Av, a Jewish day of mourning that commemorates the destruction of the Second Jewish Temple by Roman forces in AD 70. The group said in a statement, “On Tisha B’Av, we affirm that mourning Jewish and Israeli life does not mean we should ignore Palestinian suffering — rather it is precisely because of the tragedies experienced by our people that we must fight for the liberation of all people.”

On Oct. 7, Hamas militants killed 1,200 Israelis and took about 250 hostages, roughly 115 of whom are still missing. Since then, Israeli forces have killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to health officials in Gaza, who include both Hamas forces and civilians in their casualty counts.