A small demonstration created a big problem during Thursday morning’s rush hour commute when about 50 to 60 demonstrators blocked traffic on the Boston University Bridge, calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Pictures and videos posted on social media by the Boston chapter of the organization IfNotNow showed demonstrators in shirts that said,“Not in our name.” They also held up signs reading “Jews Say: Ceasefire Now,” “Let Gaza Live,” and “Free the Hostages.”

The same group had protested Wednesday evening at the Democratic National Committee offices in Washington.

On X (formerly Twitter), the group said: “We know sitting-in on a bridge might seem desperate. That’s because we are desperate, desperate to stop any more lives from being lost. To those stuck in traffic, we sincerely apologize. We wish there was another way. We have tried everything else.”

An alert from the Boston University Police Department just after 8 am notified motorists and pedestrians of the protest. The BU Bridge, which is almost 100 years old, serves as a key connector across the Charles River between Boston and Cambridge. “At this time the BU Bridge is closed for a large demonstration,” the alert said. “Boston Police, State Police, and Boston University Police are on scene. Pedestrian traffic is not affected on Commonwealth Ave. at this time.”

By 10 am, the bridge remained closed and the protestors were marching across the bridge toward Cambridge, as police monitored the situation and helicopters hovered overhead. Protestors were chanting and banging on white buckets.

The national IfNotNow group has specifically criticized President Biden and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren for not doing more to protect Gazans in the war between Israel and Hamas. The Health Ministry in Gaza says more than 11,200 Palestinians have been killed since the war began on October 7, following a sudden and deadly attack on Israel by Hamas that killed at least 1,200 people, mainly civilians. Hamas also took some 200 hostages in its attack.

This week, for the first time, a deal to trade Israelis held captive for Palestinian prisoners appeared to moving closer. The New York Times reports: “Under the proposal, Hamas would release 50 women and children abducted during the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks for roughly the same number of Palestinian women and children held in Israeli prisons.”

The BU Police reports that the demonstration has ended and BU Bridge reopened shortly before 11 am.