San Franciscans rallied and marched down Market Street on Saturday, February 28, and rallied again on Monday, March 2, to protest the war on Iran started by Donald Trump. In response to the American and Israeli bombing of Iran this past weekend, hundreds of protesters met Saturday outside the Federal Building on 7th Street to hear speeches and then march with antiwar banners and posters. On Monday evening, protesters gathered at Embarcadero.
My favorite speaker outside the Federal Building blasted Trump for his illegal war of aggression against Iran, and noted that this destabilization of Iran and other attacks against it in the past were motivated by American oil interests. Besides not wanting war, San Franciscans don’t need more oil or carbon emissions overheating the planet, especially this February, which was far too warm in San Francisco due to climate change.
The gatherings brought together people from many different backgrounds and organizations, including ANSWER, DSA, and Veterans for Peace, and American Muslims for Palestine. The Monday rally took some time for Muslim prayer.
One chant during the Saturday march demanded: “No boots on the ground, no bombs in the air. US out of everwhere.” Unfortunately, there are still a lot of bombs in the American and Israeli arsenals, and manufacturers will no doubt produce more for a substantial profit.
Objections to the war and Immigration and Customs Enforcement cruelty could be seen in signs of the times, posters, and slogans along Market Street and at Embarcadero, including:
Money for People’s Needs, Not for the War Machine
Trump = Destruction
ICE Melts with Resistance
ICE Gestapo Is Murder Inc.
Yanqui Imperialists Out of Latin America
Send Barron
Pedo Prez Bored of Peace
Barron Trump, the President’s youngest son, is old enough to enlist; but apparently no sons of Trump or sons of his cabinet members or of Senators in Washington are currently risking their lives in battle. The man who founded the “Board of Peace” last year, and whose association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein deserves a Congressional hearing, may prefer war to peace now that he lost the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize and can’t seem to end the violence in Gaza, Ukraine, or (when ICE starts kidnapping and shooting innocent civilians) his own country.
Assassination and kidnapping of foreign leaders through military action has become White House policy. That leaves the challenge of securing peace by peaceful means to the rest of us: more marches, larger rallies, letters, electoral campaigns, calls for new diplomatic negotiations and treaties, maybe a general strike and a majority vote to impeach the President are needed. As another sign said: “Regime Change Starts at Home.”
