A coalition of Japanese American activists disrupted the 2024 Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival Parade for 14 minutes to raise awareness about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. They aimed to criticize California Senator Scott Wiener for conflating anti-Zionism with antisemitism and condemned the complicity of Japanese American supporters of his politics. Notably, the parade featured police presence and officials who had been criticized for past misconduct, highlighting the problematic relationship between festive cultural events and state violence.
Our aim was to draw awareness to his politics and to condemn the complicity of the Japanese Americans who continue to champion him.
We were appalled to see last year's parade open with San Francisco Police Department mounted police, followed by the first parade VIPs, Chief of Police William Scott and District Attorney Brooke Jenkins.
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