• The Collettivo autonomo lavoratori portuali has called a picket at the port of Genoa to block arms exports to Israel.
• Similar cases have already occurred in recent days in Spain, Belgium and the United States.
• In 2022, Israel received Italian arms worth approximately 9.3 million euros.

The war between Israel and Hamas has now reached Italian and international ports. For days, Italian trade unions linked to dock workers, particularly in cities such as Genoa, have been mobilising to block arms shipments to Israel by sea. "We do not want to take part in the massacre," reads the message on protest leaflets, referring to the Israeli military offensive on Gaza, which in one month is said to have already caused more than 10,000 deaths. And demonstrations of this kind are also under way abroad, from Spain to Belgium, and all the way to the United States.

Italian dock workers against arms to Israel

"The logistics chain is necessary to fuel conflicts by supplying them with weapons, and we do not want to be part of this mechanism." So writes in a press release the Calp, Collettivo autonomo lavoratori portuali, in announcing the mobilisation at the port of Genoa to block the sending of arms to Israel.

Since 7 October, Israel has launched a violent military offensive against the Gaza Strip, following the terrorist attack by Hamas on Israeli soil that caused approximately 1,400 deaths and the taking of more than 200 people hostage. Israel's bombs during this month have struck strategic targets such as the shelters and tunnels used by Hamas, but also many civilian structures — schools, hospitals, humanitarian centres. One month into the offensive, the figures released by Gaza's Ministry of Health stand at more than 10,000 Palestinians killed, including 4,000 children. And 88 UN employees have also lost their lives — the highest number ever in a single conflict.

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🚨 STILL HAPPENING NOW: Hundreds of activists from across the state of Washington gathered at the port of Tacoma, starting at dawn on Monday, to block a US weapons shipment from heading to Israel.

🎥 Palestine Chronicle

♥ 107💬 3 6 nov 2023 · Apri su X →

Genoa's dock workers are unwilling to participate, even indirectly, in this massacre. They want to block the cargo ships that are set to depart from the Ligurian port and cross the Mediterranean to supply arms to the Tel Aviv government. For 10 November, a picket has been called at the gate of the San Benigno port in Genoa, aimed at blocking its operations and thereby obstructing the war logistics chain. This is not a new kind of action for the collective: in 2021, Genoa's dock workers, together with those of Livorno and Naples, managed to block the shipment of a cargo of Italian missiles bound precisely for Israel.

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“While a genocide is underway in Palestine, workers at various airports in Belgium see weapons leaving for a war zone.”

Belgian transport workers unions made a joint statement against transporting military equipment to Israel.

♥ 1437💬 16 1 nov 2023 · Apri su X →

The volume of arms and weaponry sold by Italy to Israel is substantial. As highlighted by the fact-checking website Pagella Politica, "between 2013 and 2022, Italian companies sold arms to Israel worth almost 120 million euros." In 2022, Israel received Italian arms worth approximately 9.3 million euros, including rockets and other military equipment. The same type as those Israel has been using on Gaza in recent weeks, with little distinction between military and civilian targets.

Port blockades abroad too

Italy is not the only country in which dock workers are making their dissent heard. Abroad too, where the volume of arms exports to Israel is substantial, there have been pickets and demonstrations in recent days.

In Oakland, California, pro-Palestinian demonstrators and dock workers managed to block the departure of a ship loaded with arms bound for Israel. Something similar occurred in recent hours in Tacoma, in the state of Washington. The United States is the leading exporter of arms to Israel, followed by Germany: in the period between 2018 and 2022, Israel imported arms totalling 2.7 billion dollars from the two countries.

Germany's prominent role has itself prompted further protests: some dock workers' unions in Belgium have announced they will strike against shipments of German arms bound for Israel, which frequently depart from Belgian ports. The dissent has also reached Spain, specifically Barcelona. Dock workers have said they refuse to load ships with arms destined for Israel, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.