[News] Thousands Shut Down Port of Oakland, Demand Ceasefire and an End to US Support of Genocide in Gaza

[Anti-Imperialist News]

Saturday, January 13, 2024

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Wassim Hage, wassim at araborganizing.org

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Thousands Shut Down Port of Oakland, Demand Ceasefire and an End to US 
Support of Genocide in Gaza

Organizers declare initial victory in halting all port operations, vow 
to return at 2pm to ensure port is shut down for entire day


For visuals of the action, click here 
<https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1TTBDn-PbL2oSbvgH-Cl9t1pJYqdQ3Vif?usp=drive_link>.


Oakland, CA - Starting at 5am this morning, over 2500 community members 
disrupted the majority of Port of Oakland operations today to demand an 
end to US economic and military support of Israel’s genocidal 
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/11/icj-hears-south-africas-genocide-case-against-israel-over-gaza-war>bombing 
campaign in Gaza. This port shutdown comes as the death toll of 
Palestinians in Gaza has reached over 30,000, including over 9,000 
children, and genocide proceedings against Israel are taking place at 
the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the UN’s highest court.


Along with the massive turnout of community members showing up to 
protest the ongoing war on Gaza, the Oakland Port Authority also called 
off business that was scheduled at the docks for the morning shift in 
anticipation of community turnout, effectively shutting down the port. 
Organizers have declared an initial victory, and are vowing to return to 
the port at 2pm to shut down any business as usual for the afternoon shift.


“The Oakland port has facilitated the transport of weapons, military 
equipment, and technology that fuel the Israeli slaughter of 
Palestinians. As long as the US enables this war with our tax dollars 
and through our port, there can be no business as usual,” says Lara 
Kiswani, Executive Director of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center. 
”Every day, around $12 million in revenue is generated at the Port of 
Oakland. This is nearly the same amount of money that the US sends to 
Israel per day in economic and military aid. Today we are shutting it 
down to make it clear that we will not sit by as the US government is 
complicit in genocide.”


In early November, hundreds of protestors disrupted the loading and 
departure of a military vessel used to supply Israel with military 
equipment and technology. The vessel has returned and is currently 
docked though its future deployment plans are unclear.


“The U.S. can end the war on Gaza tomorrow by demanding a permanent 
ceasefire. Instead, Biden is making the massacre of Palestinians 
possible by sending billions of dollars of U.S. military aid to Israel, 
as the only thing this country cares about is profit with no regard to 
human life,” said Cat Brooks, Co-founder and Executive Director of the 
Anti Police-Terror Project. “By shutting down one of the busiest ports 
in North America, we are hitting them where it hurts, and will do so 
until a ceasefire is implemented, until the U.S. stops funding the 
apartheid state of Israel, and until Palestine is free.”


The Israeli war on Gaza is funded and supplied in large part by the US 
government. In November of last year, Bay Area community members turned 
out to block 
<https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/israel-hamas-war-gaza-oakland-port-protest-18467434.php>a 
US military vessel, the Cape Orlando, which departed to supply Israel 
with weapons and military equipment for use in Gaza. The vessel was then 
met with protests in Tacoma, Washington, where weapons were loaded on 
the ship. The ship is scheduled to return back to the Port of Oakland 
and community members are demanding that Oakland stop aiding in the 
transport of war machinery, and the US stop its military support for 
Israel’s war on Gaza


The Port of Oakland is a frequent site of protests that target 
war-profiteers, and actions at the port, taken by workers and Bay Area 
communities alike, have a long connection 
<https://oaklandside.org/2021/06/08/pro-palestine-ship-blockade-port-of-oakland-activist-history-israel-zim/>to 
social justice struggles.
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