[News] Longest Blockade of Israeli Ship in History - ZIM ship turned away from SSA in Oakland!
Anti-Imperialist News
news at freedomarchives.org
Wed Aug 20 16:46:53 EDT 2014
*/2 Articles Follow/*
August 20, 2014
http://araborganizing.org/zim-ship-turned-away-from-ssa/
**
*Longest Blockade of Israeli Ship in History*
ZIM ship turned away from SSA in Oakland!
For four days straight the San Francisco Bay Area community blocked the
Israeli ZIM ship from unloading at the SSA. And today, we salute the
rank and file workers of ILWU local 10 for standing with us against
Israeli Apartheid by honoring our pickets and letting the ship go from
the SSA terminal yesterday afternoon!
Saturday we mobilized thousands of our community to show the world that
Oakland does not welcome racism, apartheid or Zionism, from Ferguson to
Palestine. We flooded the streets and marched towards the Port only to
discover that the ZIM ship decided to stay at Sea rather than dock and
be confronted by the power of our numbers. The ship attempted to dock
and unload on Sunday, but within a half hour's time hundreds of us
organized community pickets requesting that workers to stand with us on
the side of justice and not unload the Apartheid ship. And as ILWU rank
and file always have, and as they did during South African Apartheid,
they demonstrated their solidarity with the global fight against
oppression and honored our picket. The following Monday and Tuesday saw
both an organized call to action as well as autonomous protests
determined to keep the ship from being unloaded. These efforts coupled
with worker solidarity continued the success of the weekend's total
blockade of the ZIM ship.
Tuesday we declared a historic victory for Palestine as */Oakland held
down the longest blockade of an Israeli ship
<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001U6OZwdZCmMJh8BQByDruFm2u2n5pJkJGsRbgbDRjCAzSDp8_gZBlIuMkzAdS8tsiPaGN3dhPWB9FL4tlg6Ra5lfP3d5Tv8wm0Gc-J0Y0ADwDAt7xFmSydPYLR5MGBdtnJjx8w5MbIKbSLOhHII4NXymHGdcQ8uG6Rc5quhwbOFMcdOH4VjZK3G31-niX-FQEM0tiaXg0JVGlw3DeloQUCiggkyrRDcOI&c=ERmURcvAdnG5x1RgG2w1YLje8LfN3_cJd-D1FEx50dS8gEvTTc3bxg==&ch=CLh2hibm8TY9zKfcjaVePDdl3AQFEjZwwQBWh1ijKvvFBGwC80khgQ==>/*.
Not only did we block the boat, but we also showed the world that racist
exclusionary state of Apartheid Israel has no place on our port, and
will soon find that it has no place on any port on the West Coast. After
being blocked from unloading at the SSA Terminal, the ZIM ship was
forced to leave and unload at another Terminal where it was met with
protests by autonomous activists. This even further delayed the
unloading of the ship.
From the use of tear gas to the training of police by Israeli military,
Oakland feels firsthand the brutality of Israeli war-making. And
Palestine knows too well the role the US plays in facilitating the
ongoing ethnic cleansing of the indigenous Palestinian people. From the
policing and militarization of our local communities perfected with
Israeli tactics of repression to the billions that the US provides
Apartheid Israel, the connections are clear and are made for us. And
over the last four days we showed the world that we stand shoulder to
shoulder from Palestine to Oakland to Ferguson as we struggle bring down
every wall, every Apartheid system and every racist state.
*/Palestine will be free. /*
Block the Boat was organized by a coalition of autonomous activists and
the following organizations:
AF3IRM
Al-Awda New York
All African People's Revolutionary Party (AAPRP)
American Friends Service Committee
American Muslims for Palestine
ANSWER Coalition
APEN: Asian Pacific Environmental Network
Arab Youth Organizing (AYO)
AROC: Arab Resource & Organizing Center
ASATA: Alliance of South Asians Taking Action
Bay Area Women in Black
BAYAN-USA
Bay Area CodePink
Bay Area Latin America Solidarity Coalition
Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Social Justice Committee
Black Organizing Project (BOP)
Black Organizing Leadership and Dignity (BOLD)
Black Workers For Justice
Catalyst Project
CodePink Washington
Committee for Open Discussion of Zionism (CODZ)
Communist Party of San Francisco
Critical Resistance - LA
Critical Resistance - Oakland
Critical Resistance - Portland
Descoloniza a Oakland/Decolonize Oakland
Free Palestine Movement
Freedom Archives
Friends of Deir Ibzi'a
Fuerza Mundial/Pueblos en Movimiento
General Union of Palestine Students - SFSU
Global Women's Strike
Gray Panthers of San Francisco
Green Party of Alameda County
Haiti Action Committee
International Action Center
International Jewish Anti Zionist Network
International Solidarity Movement - West Bank/Gaza
International Socialist Organization
International Tribunal of Conscience for Camilo
ISM-Nor Cal
IWW Bay Area Branch
Jewish Against Genocide
Jews for Palestinian Right of Return
Justice for Palestinians
La Voz de l at s trabajadores/Worker's Voice
Labor for Palestine
Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace
Malcolm X Grassroots Movement
Marcha Patriotica (Colombia) - California chapter
Middle East Children's Alliance (MECA)
Movement Generation
National Lawyers Guild SFBA Chapter
Noam Chomsky
NorCal Friends of Sabeel
Occupy SF Action Council
ONYX Organizing Committee
The Palestine-Israel Action Committee
Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions
Palestinian Youth Movement
Queers Undermining Israeli Terror
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
San Francisco Green Party
School of the Americas Watch East Bay
Socialist Alternative - Bay Area Branch
Socialist Organizer
SOUL: School of Unity and Liberation
Southern Anti-Racism Network
Stanford Students for Justice
Stop the War Machine
Students for Justice in Palestine - Cal
Totally Radical Muslims
UAW Local 2865 (Academic Student Workers at the University of California)
US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation
US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott
US Palestinian Community Network
Veterans For Peace Chapter 69
World Can't Wait Bay Area
Workers World Party
Xicana Moratorium
*****************************
US-Israeli terrorism blocked at the Port of Oakland
<http://sfbayview.com/2014/08/us-israeli-terrorism-blocked-at-the-port-of-oakland/>
August 20, 2014
*http://sfbayview.com/2014/08/us-israeli-terrorism-blocked-at-the-port-of-oakland/*
<http://sfbayview.com/2014/08/us-israeli-terrorism-blocked-at-the-port-of-oakland/#>
*/by Malaika H Kambon/*
/"You may take the last strip of my land,/
/Feed my youth to prison cells./
/You may plunder my heritage./
/You may burn my books, my poems/
/Or feed my flesh to the dogs./
/You may spread a web of terror /
/On the roofs of my village,/
/O enemy of the sun/
/But /
/I shall not compromise /
/and to the last pulse in my veins/
/I shall resist."
/-- Samih Al Qasim in "Enemy of the Sun," poetry of Palestinian resistance
/"The colonization of America in the 16^th century remains the worst
case of ethnocide ever recorded in human history... Dear citizens, the
roots of terrorism lie there! There, in the heart of slavery."/ --
Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Beginning Saturday, Aug. 16, dock workers at the Port of Oakland honored
the picket lines of thousands of people over a period of four days --
and many months of organizing in solidarity with the people of Palestine
-- to block Israeli apartheid by preventing the docking and unloading of
the Zim Pireaus liner anywhere on the West Coast.
On Tuesday, Aug. 19, the Zim Pireus left the Port of Oakland with its
cargo untouched, unloaded, unremarked and unwanted. The latest word,
however, is that the Israeli "Zim ship" cleared the Golden Gate but made
a U-turn and is headed back to Oakland's Berth 22. So are the activists.
If this subterfuge fails, several activists, including the Electronic
Intifada, who are tracking the Zim's faltering attempts to find a port
from which to unload, the Zim will be on its way to Los Angeles, where
it will doubtlessly receive the same "Unwelcome, go home" signals.
For four days Oakland forced yet another apartheid copycat to berth
somewhere else. As did the international community led by the ILWU to
South African apartheid, so does the international community to Israeli
apartheid. The historic victories continue.
Israeli apartheid is being dismantled and crushed -- one port at a time.
Palestine -- just like Afrikan people in Haiti and the world over, just
like all struggling people -- will fight to the bitter end to be free!
On Saturday, speakers from the Arab Resource and Organizing Center
(AROC) and the Arab Youth Organization (AYO) said so. As did Clarence
Thomas, past secretary-treasurer of the International Longshore and
Warehouse Union, Local 10; Pierre Labossiere, co-founder of the Haiti
Action Committee; and Lil De Consuelo, born in Puerto Rico and a
volunteer for the Middle East Children's Alliance (MECA), to name a very
few.
Several more speakers from many organizations agreed that international
solidarity has a true face, and it isn't the face of the U.S. and
Israeli governments. The connections were made from Ferguson to the Gaza
Strip: Crimes against humanity will not be tolerated.
National Lawyers Guild attorney Marjorie Cohn states in her article, "US
Leaders Aid and Abet Israeli War Crimes, Genocide and Crimes Against
Humanity
<http://jurist.org/forum/2014/08/marjorie-cohn-israel-crimes.php>": "By
sending vast amounts of military aid to Israel, members of the U.S.
Congress, President George W. Bush, President Barack Obama and Defense
Secretary Chuck Hagel have aided and abetted the commission of war
crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity by Israeli officials and
commanders in Gaza. An individual can be convicted of a war crime,
genocide or a crime against humanity
<http://www.icc-cpl.int/nr/rdonlyres/ea9aeff7-5752-4f84-be94-0a655eb30e16/0/rome_statute_english.pdf>
in the International Criminal Court (ICC) if he or she 'aids, abets or
otherwise assists' in the commission or attempted commission of the
crime, 'including providing the means for its commission.'"
Well, court is now in session.
Organizers tracked the Zim Piraeus
<http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-123.1425/centery:36.64083/zoom:8/mmsi:477634800>,
according to activist Mohamed Shehk, speaking with The Electronic
Intifada, and realized that the boat was still at sea. It missed its
scheduled 9 p.m. docking Aug. 15. It missed its 3 a.m. docking scheduled
on Aug. 16. And it definitely wasn't in evidence at Berth 57 at 3 p.m.
on the same day.
The boat had been blocked. It had no place to go and nothing to do but
to circle around in the Pacific Ocean all day long on Saturday.
It wanted no part of the 2,000 people who were standing at the entrance
of Berth 57 at the Port of Oakland. Israel -- like France so long ago in
Haiti, like apartheid South Africa -- wanted no part of the people's court.
And more people were coming.
People came from as far away as Portland, Oregon, and Puerto Rico.
Students came from every college and university. Workers, community
members and activists came, as did mothers, fathers and families with
babies in strollers to make the historic two-mile march from Oakland's
West Oakland BART station to Berth 57 at the Port of Oakland.
Chanting "Block the boat, block, block the boat," and "Hands up, don't
shoot," in solidarity with Palestinian people and with African people in
Ferguson, Missouri, fighting for justice for Mike Brown, murdered by
police as he raised his hands and cried out in vain, "Don't shoot," the
march in Oakland was met by a significant police presence at Berth 57.
The same genocidal U.S.-Israeli mentality that trained police terrorists
in Ferguson, Missouri, and around the world tried to export more of
their terrorism at the docks in Oakland.
Just as Kenneth Wade Harding was assassinated by police and bled out
after being shot for not having a $2 train fare, Mike Brown was gunned
down for walking in the roadway with his friend, just as 400 Palestinian
children have been brutally murdered and 2,500 injured with assault
rifles, bombs and 155-millimeter artillery, Haitian children are being
killed in their homes and during demonstrations, and Israeli trained
police "occupy" Ferguson, Missouri, as they do Oakland, San Francisco,
New York and all over the U.S.
Undaunted, international solidarity prevented Zim Integrated Shipping
Services from exporting more of their apartheid, more of their genocide,
more of their crimes against humanity. On this day, using the Port of
Oakland as a stepping-stone to further war and injustice wasn't happening.
They were shut down. Their boat was not only blocked but was turned
away. The message being sent is clear: Neither enslavement nor
occupation can cause freedom to lose its focus, nor eliminate peoples of
resistance.
Apartheid was sunk yet again at the docks of the Port of Oakland.
/"Si yo tire sou nou, yo pran, si yo pa tire sou nou, yo pran." ("If
they shoot at us they are doomed, and if they don't shoot at us they are
doomed. They cannot win.")/ -- Chant of the people of Bel Air, Haiti, on
March 4, 2005, taking to the streets just a few days after, in plain
sight of U.N. troops and the international media, the official Haitian
police killed, beat and tear-gassed unarmed demonstrators
The power of the people prevailed.
All power to the people!
/Malaika H Kambon is a freelance photojournalist and the 2011 winner of
the Bay Area Black Journalists Association Luci S. Williams Houston
Scholarship in Photojournalism. She also won the AAU state and national
championship in Tae Kwon Do from 2007-2010. She can be reached at
//kambonrb at pacbell.net/ <mailto:kambonrb at pacbell.net>/./
*For global action now: Stop the Israeli massacre in Gaza!*
*/Statement of the Transport Workers Solidarity Committee/*
As the Zionist genocidal war against the Palestinian people continues
unabated, workers around the world are stunned by the death and
destruction rained down on Gaza. Transport workers, because of our key
position in the global economy, have the power to stop the wheels of the
Israeli war machine, the power to stop it dead in its tracks.
In 2009, dockworkers in Durban, South Africa, refused to unload the
Israeli ship Johanna Russ to protest what they called "apartheid
Israel's massacres in Gaza." The South African Transport and Allied
Workers Union then called on other unions to follow their exemplary
solidarity action with the oppressed Palestinian people.
Then, dockworkers in Oakland, California, of the International Longshore
and Warehouse Union (ILWU) honored a mass picket line of 1,200 port
demonstrators against a Zim Lines ship protesting the Israeli army's
killing of humanitarian aid workers on the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. In
1984, ILWU had boycotted a South African apartheid ship.
Saturday, Aug. 16, the date of the latest protest against an Israeli Zim
Lines ship in the Port of Oakland, also commemorates the Tripartite
South African government killing of 34 striking miners. Known as the
Marikana Massacre, it has become a seminal event in the history of South
African working class struggles.
The Palestinian General Confederation of Trade Unions has appealed to
workers the world over to refuse to handle Israeli goods. The TWSC
supports the action begun on Aug. 16 in solidarity with Palestinians and
striking South African workers.
We call on the community to picket Israeli ships, planes and Zim Lines
offices. If we can stop the Israeli capitalists' profits, even for a
day, we send a powerful message to the racist Zionist regime that we
will not oil their bloody war machine. An injury to one is an injury to all!
/The Transport Workers Solidarity Committee, led by Jack Heyman, chair,
Brian Lewis, secretary, Robert Irminger, treasurer, and Steve Zeltzer,
publicity director, can be reached at //transportsolidarity at yahoo.com/
<mailto:transportsolidarity at yahoo.com>/. /
--
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415
863.9977 www.freedomarchives.org
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