The day after Israel’s violent offensive against Palestine reaches its 600-day mark, 70-year-old cyclist and former journalist Bob Sanders will set out on a cross-country protest ride from Crissy Field. As a Jew, he says, he can no longer stay quiet about the atrocities being perpetuated against the Palestinian people.
“This is what happened to us,” he says from his home in New Hampshire in a video call interview with 48hills.
To raise awareness about the continued violence in Gaza and other parts of the Middle East, Sanders is planning a 4,000-mile ride that will take him down largely unpaved roads and through several red states. The founder of Palestinian justice organization Not In Our Name NH will be collecting signatures on a petition in support of an immediate ceasefire, suspending all unrestricted military aid to Israel, increasing unconditional humanitarian aid to Palestine, and ending the occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, among other demands. He plans to take it to the offices of Senators and members of U.S. Congress in every state he visits.
The ride has been endorsed by Peace Action, AFSC, Veterans for Peace, and Jerry Greenfield of Ben and Jerry’s, as well as several local groups. Sanders says Bay Area bike shops have been incredibly supportive of the endeavor.
All in all, a bold plan—but Sanders hasn’t always found it easy to be this vocal about the issue.
“You know, at one point my father said I was anti-Semitic and that I couldn’t talk to him about it,” he says. “Bring it up at Passover and it’s… You know, I try to, but definitely, no one wanted to deal with it.”
This will be Sanders’ third ride for Palestine. The first saw him pedaling to northern New England State Capitols and major cities and the second, from his home in New Hampshire to Washington D.C. The journey that begins Fri/30 (all are invited to see Sanders off at 9am that day from the Crissy Field Warming Hut) won’t be his first two-wheeled coast-to-coaster.
In fact, it serves as the 50th anniversary of Sanders’ first cross-country bike ride. He shares twin photos of himself from then and now in which his younger and current selves are shown perched over the handlebars of road bikes, wearing similar plaid shirts and shades. Times have changed a bit—back then, the longtime peace activist’s goal was “to have fun and be Jack Keroauc on a bicycle.”
A half-century later, the septuagenarian knows his adventure will mean that eyes are on him. And so, he plans to use the occasion to draw attention to an injustice that he sees, in certain ways, as being akin to the Vietnam War he protested in his youth.
He’s certainly done avoiding advocating for Palestine out of societal or familial pressure.
“I felt like I was kind of repressing or silent about the issue, and I guess when you repress something, sometimes it just comes out, you know, like an explosion,” he says.
48HILLS It’s amazing that you’re bringing awareness to the injustice in Gaza by traversing the country on a bicycle at 70.
BOB SANDERS Originally, this was going to be for Medicare, to expand it and defend it from being privatized. But what is going on in Gaza is just so horrendous, and I felt I could do something—or I wanted to do something—as a Jew. Technically, this might be a genocide. I hesitate to use that word, because it’s so much connected with the Holocaust. But it’s not just the numbers or the size, it’s the attitude of the Israeli politicians, the demonization. Palestinians simply don’t count. And that’s kind of what happened to us—and the displacement. The moving, the taking all their stuff. I mean, this is what happened to us.
48HILLS And what kind of protests inspired you, in terms of structuring this bike ride as a protest?
BOB SANDERS The biggest thing in New Hampshire is Granny D. In 1999, this 90-year-old woman walked across the country for campaign finance reform. It really raised the profile of campaign finance reform in the country. She got a lot of support because people worried about her. [laughs] That’s happening a little bit in my case too.
48HILLS This is your third ride for Palestine. [The first was New Hampshire to Washington D.C. and the second to State Capitols and major cities in northern New England.] What did you learn from the first two rides that you’re going to be applying towards this much-longer third ride?
BOB SANDERS Well one thing I learned, the first one I did with maybe a week’s notice. The second one I did with three weeks’ notice. I’ve been planning this for a long time, in some aspects, almost a year and really in serious, three or four months.
48HILLS Who do you see as the target audience for the RAW Gaza X-Country Tour? If this ride is to raise awareness, who do you think it stands a chance of reaching?
BOB SANDERS One thing is that, because of all the things that the Trump administration is doing, even people who care about Gaza, they kind of get lost. It’s happened with some people in Not in My Name NH, they just feel like they have to fight this other stuff. I mean, 60, 85 [Palestinians killed every] day, people feel disheartened. So part of this is just to rally the people who do care about it by showing that I’m willing to do this. And I’m also going through the heartland of Trump country: South Dakota, Idaho, Wyoming. That’s going to be an interesting ride, I think.
48HILLS The lack of awareness around Palestine can be quite disillusioning—not just people who are losing focus because of the Trump administration, but also people who from the beginning, haven’t had the same awareness of the Israel-Palestine “conflict.” One thing that re-centers me when I’m feeling hopeless is thinking about how I learned more about the history of the region relatively recently myself. I’d love to hear about what you were initially taught about Palestine and Israel, and how your perspective has evolved.
BOB SANDERS I grew up in a Jewish household. It wasn’t a religious household, my parents were both Socialists. They were never Zionists, their response to the Holocaust was to organize, to defeat right-wing fascists. But there was an affinity with Israel, a blind spot with Palestinians in my family. I grew up with Exodus the movie, the soaring music in the background. It was one of my favorites. I read [Leon] Uris and stuff like that. I admit that I didn’t even think about the Palestinians—they were invisible, which is basically true today. I mean, look at all the emphasis when those two people were shot in D.C. They were murdered and it was horrible. But then, so many more people are dying in Palestine every day. I mean, on that same day [as the murders of the Washington D.C. Israeli embassy staffers], there were 85 Palestinians who were killed through bombings. No one is going and talking to their families, seeing whether they were going to get married, or what happens with their kids, or if they’re kids, how their parents are dealing with it.
I was involved in the peace movement when I was young. There was a group called Jews For Peace way, way back. This was in the ’80s, ’70s? I’m not even sure. I did get involved a little bit with them, and then I became a journalist. I thought that that was the way to do things, and it was. I think I accomplished some stuff as a journalist. I worked for the alternative press and then I went to Columbia Journalism School, worked for the Syracuse Post Standard, started Granite News Service here in New Hampshire, and then worked for the New Hampshire Business Review. Anyways, so I was out of politics. I followed [what was going on in Palestine], but I didn’t speak out very much about it, because it upset my family. You know, at one point my father said I was anti-Semitic and that I couldn’t talk to him about it. I really can’t with a lot of family. Bring it up at Passover and it’s… You know, I try to but definitely, no one wanted to deal with it. I felt like I was kind of repressing or silent about the issue, and I guess when you repress something, sometimes it just comes out, you know, like an explosion.
48HILLS Thanks for speaking about that, It’s a really important story. When people ask you what they can do to stop the violence against Palestine, where do you guide them?
BOB SANDERS Well, I’m an old guy, so I remember Vietnam, I was involved in [the anti-Vietnam War movement] for a while. I think we ended the war—I mean, the South Vietnamese had something to do with it! But I think we really helped. It took a lot of action, it was a massive movement, and I feel like it’s the same thing here. Every little thing helps to move the consciousness of people and lawmakers and the establishment. I know it’s very frustrating, especially for younger activists—and it was to us back then—to see this carnage and feel like you’re doing everything you can do, and it still goes on and even gets worse. But that time, it did push the consciousness of people. So I believe in that, I believe that we can do it. I know that history has tragic outcomes, so I’m not sure. But I do feel things are moving. Of course, there’s a huge backlash, and another reason that I need to speak out as a Jew is the weaponization of anti-Semitism against protestors, particularly if they’re from another country. This is not just about Palestine anymore—it’s a fight for freedom in the United States, and Palestine is the cutting edge of that. It’s another reason why you need to fight, because it’s that old adage, they came for the Communists and then they came for the Jews and who is left? Well, now they’re coming for immigrants and they’re coming for people protesting about Palestine.
RIDE AGAINST WAR ON GAZA SEND-OFF Fri/30, 9am. Crissy Field Warming Hut, SF. More info here. Donate to the ride here.
