Pro-Palestinian protest briefly halts Rose Parade
Protesters at Lake Avenue and Colorado Boulevard on Monday demanded a ceasefire in Gaza.
More than 50 pro-Palestinian protesters who demanded a cease fire in Gaza briefly blocked the Rose Parade at Colorado Boulevard and Lake Avenue on Monday, Jan. 1 before peacefully dispersing under police orders.
Lisa Derderian, Pasadena’s emergency management coordinator and public information officer, said the parade was stopped for up to 15 minutes when demonstrators walked in front of the first float, representing Honda, as the parade headed west about one-half miles into its route just before 9 a.m.
Holding up their banners, protesters left the street and stood in the sidewalk area before they were persuaded to leave, Derderian said. There were no arrests.
“They dispersed and the parade continued about 10 minutes later,” Derderian stated. “Law enforcement has a heavy presence in the area.”
One leader of the protest, Palestinian-American Rida Hamida, who is executive director of Latino and Muslim Unity, said, “We are demanding that our government does not spend another tax dollar in occupying and massacring families and generations. … This Rose Parade is a celebration of a new year, when there is nothing to celebrate while there are people that are being massacred on our tax dollars.”
Hamida said that the organization partnered with Jewish Voice for Peace, Community Solidarity Project, Prayers for Palestine, and Students for Justice in Palestine to organize about 84 people to stand in front of the Honda float at the intersection of Lake and Colorado.
By disrupting the parade, she said, people would be forced to hear their calls for a ceasefire.
“We are going to continue to disrupt until there is no more disruption of Palestinian and human rights in Gaza,” Hamida said.
Participant Camilo Canidad Pineda explained, “Today we disrupted the Rose Parade and placed ourselves as obstacles in front of cars.”
Pineda, a Jewish American, said, “We’re calling for an end to Israeli occupation in Palestine and the West Bank and all the machines of war.”
Staff writers Georgia Valdes, Tony Saavedra and John Orona contributed to this article.