Morning rush hour drivers along the BQE this morning encountered a series of signs protesting the occupation of Gaza and what is seen as Israeli war crimes hung by the group Jews Against the Occupation. Signs such as "FREE GAZA" and "JEWS SAY: STOP ISRAEL" were draped from overpasses as commuters headed southbound along the highway.

While today may not have been the ideal traffic conditions to allow the message to resonate with drivers, the group saw protesting on the holiday as a symbolic gesture. JATO activist Jacob Kurtzberg said, "Martin Luther King taught that we could not wait for civil rights and equality to be handed to us. In New York and in Palestine, we've learned that can't wait for our governments to object to these wrongs—it's up to us to raise the alarm."

After both sides in the conflict reached a temporary cease fire yesterday, today Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that he hopes that Israeli troops will be withdrawn by the time of tomorrow's inauguration of Barack Obama. JATO says that the cease fire "remains precarious as long as Israel refuses to negotiate with Hamas or lift the siege on Gaza."