BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – A group of protesters have been hanging banners and holding flags on an I-5 overpass in Bellingham recently to show support for Palestinians.

Michael Jacobsen, a Vietnam-era veteran and member of Veterans for Peace, was a part of the protesters on the overpass on Sunday, May 12. Jacobsen made the protest’s message clear, calling for peace and change with the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine.

“A ceasefire is just [the] absolute bare minimum,” Jacobsen said.

Jacobsen was among a group of protesters on Sunday, May 12, and said it is wrong to label their demonstrations as pro-Hamas or antisemitic. Jacobsen agreed that the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7 were horrific, but he quotes the U.N. Secretary General who said they didn’t happen in a vacuum.

“Palestine, for the last 76 years, has not had its own self-determination or freedom whatsoever,” said Jacobsen. “It’s been under various forms of occupations and, currently, of military occupations.”

He said the reception they’ve received from people in vehicles passing below has been mostly positive, and Jacobsen mentioned his support for protests being conducted at a younger level.

On May 14, Western Washington University (WWU) was the latest college campus in the country to have a protest encampment on campus property. MyBellinghamNow previously reported on the WWU encampment and what demands the protesters have for the WWU administration.