Dockers, Activists in U.S., Spain Block Israeli Military Shipments

Date: 07 November 2023 - 22:02

News ID: ۱۲۱۲۲۲

BARCELONA (Dispatches) -- The Barcelona port stevedores’ union has refused to load and unload any military material amid the war in Gaza and urged the protection of civilian populations in areas of conflict, following a similar move by Belgian transport unions last week.
The decision is mostly symbolic and seeks to encourage other Spanish ports to follow suit, the secretary of the OEPB union, Josep Maria Deop, told Reuters on Tuesday.
The OEPB is the only union representing the 1,200 stevedores at Barcelona’s port.
Deop said organizations promoting peace could help the union figure out which containers contain military equipment. He said he was convinced there were military shipments from Barcelona because “it’s a port that moves all types of goods”.
It wasn’t clear what those organizations were and whether they had agreed to help the union in these efforts.
Barcelona’s port authority declined to comment and said it did not have data on military shipments.
Spain exported military equipment worth 1.3 billion euros ($1.39 billion) in the first half of 2022, with shipments to Occupied Palestine amounting to 9 million euros, according to the latest available official data.
Spain does not plan to export any lethal military equipment to be used in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, state news agency EFE cited government sources as saying last week.
On Monday, more than 75 young activists obstructed every entry point to Building 598 at Boeing in Missouri, where production takes place for the bombs and ammunition used by the Zionist regime of Israel in Gaza.
The manufacturing plant is responsible for supplying almost 1,000 bombs, which include Small Diameter Bombs and Joint Direct Attack Munitions to Israel.
Boeing expedited the shipment of 1,000 precision-guided munitions to Israel as the occupying regime intensified its strikes on Gaza after October 7, Bloomberg reported.
The 250-pound Small Diameter Bombs, which are part of a deal signed in 2021, were transported to Occupied Palestine aboard Israeli air force planes from a U.S. Air Force base, Bloomberg reported.
“We are joining millions of people across the U.S. and around the world in demanding an end to Israel’s brutal assault on Gaza and its decades-long occupation of Palestine,” said Ellie Tang, an organizer with the anti-war youth organization Dissenters.
“We urge Congress and Biden to hear the calls of millions of us living in this country and push for a ceasefire. Until Congress blocks the bombs, we will.”
The blockage was organized by Dissenters, St Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee, Black Men Build St Louis, the Boeing Arms Genocide Campaign, and Resist St Louis.
The activists are calling for two immediate actions: firstly, for Congress and Biden to demand an immediate halt to hostilities, and secondly, to halt arms sales to the occupying regime of Israel.
They are also urging communities to persistently partake in direct action aimed at Boeing and other firms benefiting from Israel’s occupation.
“We want Congress to know what it looks like to take brave action. And that we will not wait for their timelines to actualize demands of ceasefire,” said Su Mac, an artist and organizer.
“As taxpayers, we all have blood on our hands. Congress must act before they are etched into history books as complicit in a genocide the country called on them to stop. The whole world is watching.”