Activists Block Israeli Cargo Ship From Entering Port of Oakland
Thousands of pro-Palestinian activists have successfully blocked an Israeli ship that was scheduled to dock at the port of Oakland in California on Saturday.
The boat had been expected to dock in the early morning hours and protesters had planned to show up at 5:00 am Saturday morning to block the ship. But as word spread that the ship had delayed its arrival at Oakland in an apparent attempt to avoid the protest the protest was pushed back until 3:00pm.
The protesters plan to form a picket line to prevent work crews from unloading the ship, if, and when it docks.
The Guardian reports:
Activists interpreted the delay as a victory since the schedule change seemed to have been made in response to the planned pickets. "We have stopped the Zim Piraeus from docking on the west coast of the United States," said Eyad, of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC), into a megaphone, drawing cheers from the crowd as the march came to a halt on a bridge leading towards the docks.
"Zim Lines is the largest Israeli shipping company, and it's a huge flow of capital for the state of Israel," said Lara Kiswani, executive director of the center, whose organization was one of 70 to take part in planning the blockade.
Kiswani said the action was meant to generate momentum for a broader campaign calling for boycott, divestment and sanctions against the Israeli government as a response to violence in Gaza. "With the recent attacks on Palestine ... there's been a lot of discussion locally, particularly with AROC, on how to escalate our tactics," she said.
A similar blockade against a Zim vessel took place in 2010, when pro-Palestinian activists formed picket lines in response to Israel's attack on a flotilla ferrying humanitarian outreach workers to Gaza. "After the flotilla was attacked by the state of Israel, we successfully were able to block the Zim Lines ship here, with the ILWU," Kiswani said. "So for years we were working with ILWU, with rank and file, and with the leadership, to try and raise awareness about the plight of Palestinians." In 1984, she added, "ILWU took a position against apartheid, and the workers refused to unload that ship".
As the march reached the port entrance, where activists had originally planned to stage a picket, they encountered a line of police officers standing in formation. Protesters erupted into chants of, "hands up, don't shoot!" - echoing chants sounded in response to police violence directed against street protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, in the wake of the fatal police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown.
Several others made statements linking recent acts of police brutality with the conflict in Gaza. "On Twitter, we've seen people in Gaza tweet to protesters in Ferguson how to cope with teargas," said Mohamed Shehk, who helped organize the blockade with the Oakland-based nonprofit Critical Resistance. "They're saying things like, 'as Palestinians, we know what it's like to be targeted and killed for being of the wrong ethnicity'."
Block the Boat organizers are targeting Zim Lines for it's history of supporting Israel's occupation and subjugation of Palestinians.
"From its founding in 1945 by the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Histradut, Zim has served Israeli settler-colonialism, bringing settlers to Palestine and serving as Israel's only maritime connection during the 1948 war, supplying 'food, freight, and military equipment' used of course to carry out the Nakba. The worldwide commerce conducted by Zim today funds the occupation of Palestine with revenue generated on every continent," organizers wrote in a statement issued by Block the Boat.
FINAL DAY! This is urgent.
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission from the outset was simple. To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It’s never been this bad out there. And it’s never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed and doing some of its best and most important work, the threats we face are intensifying. Right now, with just hours left in our Spring Campaign, we're still falling short of our make-or-break goal. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Can you make a gift right now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? There is no backup plan or rainy day fund. There is only you. —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Thousands of pro-Palestinian activists have successfully blocked an Israeli ship that was scheduled to dock at the port of Oakland in California on Saturday.
The boat had been expected to dock in the early morning hours and protesters had planned to show up at 5:00 am Saturday morning to block the ship. But as word spread that the ship had delayed its arrival at Oakland in an apparent attempt to avoid the protest the protest was pushed back until 3:00pm.
The protesters plan to form a picket line to prevent work crews from unloading the ship, if, and when it docks.
The Guardian reports:
Activists interpreted the delay as a victory since the schedule change seemed to have been made in response to the planned pickets. "We have stopped the Zim Piraeus from docking on the west coast of the United States," said Eyad, of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC), into a megaphone, drawing cheers from the crowd as the march came to a halt on a bridge leading towards the docks.
"Zim Lines is the largest Israeli shipping company, and it's a huge flow of capital for the state of Israel," said Lara Kiswani, executive director of the center, whose organization was one of 70 to take part in planning the blockade.
Kiswani said the action was meant to generate momentum for a broader campaign calling for boycott, divestment and sanctions against the Israeli government as a response to violence in Gaza. "With the recent attacks on Palestine ... there's been a lot of discussion locally, particularly with AROC, on how to escalate our tactics," she said.
A similar blockade against a Zim vessel took place in 2010, when pro-Palestinian activists formed picket lines in response to Israel's attack on a flotilla ferrying humanitarian outreach workers to Gaza. "After the flotilla was attacked by the state of Israel, we successfully were able to block the Zim Lines ship here, with the ILWU," Kiswani said. "So for years we were working with ILWU, with rank and file, and with the leadership, to try and raise awareness about the plight of Palestinians." In 1984, she added, "ILWU took a position against apartheid, and the workers refused to unload that ship".
As the march reached the port entrance, where activists had originally planned to stage a picket, they encountered a line of police officers standing in formation. Protesters erupted into chants of, "hands up, don't shoot!" - echoing chants sounded in response to police violence directed against street protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, in the wake of the fatal police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown.
Several others made statements linking recent acts of police brutality with the conflict in Gaza. "On Twitter, we've seen people in Gaza tweet to protesters in Ferguson how to cope with teargas," said Mohamed Shehk, who helped organize the blockade with the Oakland-based nonprofit Critical Resistance. "They're saying things like, 'as Palestinians, we know what it's like to be targeted and killed for being of the wrong ethnicity'."
Block the Boat organizers are targeting Zim Lines for it's history of supporting Israel's occupation and subjugation of Palestinians.
"From its founding in 1945 by the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Histradut, Zim has served Israeli settler-colonialism, bringing settlers to Palestine and serving as Israel's only maritime connection during the 1948 war, supplying 'food, freight, and military equipment' used of course to carry out the Nakba. The worldwide commerce conducted by Zim today funds the occupation of Palestine with revenue generated on every continent," organizers wrote in a statement issued by Block the Boat.
Thousands of pro-Palestinian activists have successfully blocked an Israeli ship that was scheduled to dock at the port of Oakland in California on Saturday.
The boat had been expected to dock in the early morning hours and protesters had planned to show up at 5:00 am Saturday morning to block the ship. But as word spread that the ship had delayed its arrival at Oakland in an apparent attempt to avoid the protest the protest was pushed back until 3:00pm.
The protesters plan to form a picket line to prevent work crews from unloading the ship, if, and when it docks.
The Guardian reports:
Activists interpreted the delay as a victory since the schedule change seemed to have been made in response to the planned pickets. "We have stopped the Zim Piraeus from docking on the west coast of the United States," said Eyad, of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC), into a megaphone, drawing cheers from the crowd as the march came to a halt on a bridge leading towards the docks.
"Zim Lines is the largest Israeli shipping company, and it's a huge flow of capital for the state of Israel," said Lara Kiswani, executive director of the center, whose organization was one of 70 to take part in planning the blockade.
Kiswani said the action was meant to generate momentum for a broader campaign calling for boycott, divestment and sanctions against the Israeli government as a response to violence in Gaza. "With the recent attacks on Palestine ... there's been a lot of discussion locally, particularly with AROC, on how to escalate our tactics," she said.
A similar blockade against a Zim vessel took place in 2010, when pro-Palestinian activists formed picket lines in response to Israel's attack on a flotilla ferrying humanitarian outreach workers to Gaza. "After the flotilla was attacked by the state of Israel, we successfully were able to block the Zim Lines ship here, with the ILWU," Kiswani said. "So for years we were working with ILWU, with rank and file, and with the leadership, to try and raise awareness about the plight of Palestinians." In 1984, she added, "ILWU took a position against apartheid, and the workers refused to unload that ship".
As the march reached the port entrance, where activists had originally planned to stage a picket, they encountered a line of police officers standing in formation. Protesters erupted into chants of, "hands up, don't shoot!" - echoing chants sounded in response to police violence directed against street protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, in the wake of the fatal police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown.
Several others made statements linking recent acts of police brutality with the conflict in Gaza. "On Twitter, we've seen people in Gaza tweet to protesters in Ferguson how to cope with teargas," said Mohamed Shehk, who helped organize the blockade with the Oakland-based nonprofit Critical Resistance. "They're saying things like, 'as Palestinians, we know what it's like to be targeted and killed for being of the wrong ethnicity'."
Block the Boat organizers are targeting Zim Lines for it's history of supporting Israel's occupation and subjugation of Palestinians.
"From its founding in 1945 by the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Histradut, Zim has served Israeli settler-colonialism, bringing settlers to Palestine and serving as Israel's only maritime connection during the 1948 war, supplying 'food, freight, and military equipment' used of course to carry out the Nakba. The worldwide commerce conducted by Zim today funds the occupation of Palestine with revenue generated on every continent," organizers wrote in a statement issued by Block the Boat.