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<div class="header reader-header" style="display: block;"
dir="ltr"> <font size="-2"><a class="domain reader-domain"
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/israel-linked-cargo-ship-sailing-tunisian-storm">https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/israel-linked-cargo-ship-sailing-tunisian-storm</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">Israel-linked cargo ship sailing into
Tunisian storm</h1>
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<p class="node__submitted">
<span class="field field-author"><a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/people/ali-abunimah">Ali
Abunimah</a></span> <span class="field field-blog">-</span>
<span class="field field-publication-date"><span
class="date-display-single"
content="2018-08-06T15:21:39+00:00">6 August 2018</span></span>
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<figure id="file-67601"><source media="(min-width:
72rem)"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>
<p>Trade union leaders in Tunisia are calling on their
members not to unload an Israel-linked cargo ship if
it lands at the port of Radès in coming days.</p>
<p>According to <a
href="https://www.vesselfinder.com/fr/?imo=8912455">tracking
data</a>, <em>Cornelius A</em> left the Spanish
port of Algeciras on Sunday night headed towards
Radès, where it is predicted to arrive on 9 August.</p>
<p>But over the weekend, there were indications that the
journey had been canceled, prompting Palestine
solidarity activists to celebrate a victory.</p>
<p>Last week, activists and Tunisia’s UGTT trade union
federation <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/tunisians-demand-government-block-entry-israel-linked-cargo-ship">demanded</a>
that Tunisian authorities prevent the <em>Cornelius A</em>
from entering the country’s waters because the ship,
owned by the Turkish company Arkas, appeared to be
operated on behalf of the Israeli shipping line Zim.</p>
<p>The vessel has apparently been plying the
Mediterranean as part of a <a
href="http://tacbi.org/node/41">network</a> that
offers cargo shipping between Haifa, a port in
present-day Israel, and Tunisia’s Radès, via Spanish
ports.</p>
<p>Activists see Zim’s use of a Turkish-flagged vessel
as an attempt at covert normalization between Israel
and Tunisia, which have no formal relations.</p>
<p>Last week, the Tunisian port authority OMMP and the
Turkish embassy in Tunis <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/tunisians-demand-government-block-entry-israel-linked-cargo-ship">denied</a>
any Israeli connection to the <em>Cornelius A</em>,
but this failed to convince campaigners.</p>
<h2>“National stance”</h2>
<p>On Friday, three major Palestinian trade union
federations <a
href="https://bdsmovement.net/ar/news/%D9%86%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%B9%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%84-%D9%81%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%B7%D9%8A%D9%86-%D8%AA%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%B4%D8%AF-%D8%A8%D9%85%D9%86%D8%B9-%D8%B1%D8%B3%D9%88-%D8%B3%D9%81%D9%86-%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%83%D8%A9-%D8%B2%D9%8A%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%B3%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%8A%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D9%85%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%A6-%D8%AA%D9%88%D9%86%D8%B3-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D9%82%D9%8A%D9%82%D8%A9">wrote</a>
to UGTT secretary-general Nourredine Taboubi urging
the Tunisian labor organization to mobilize all
efforts to stop the <em>Cornelius A</em> being
unloaded in Radès and to prevent normalization of ties
with Israel more generally.</p>
<p>The next day, Taboubi <a
href="https://directinfo.webmanagercenter.com/2018/08/04/lugtt-fera-barrage-contre-toute-entite-sioniste-qui-tente-dentrer-sur-le-sol-tunisien/">reaffirmed</a>
that the UGTT would block any “Zionist entity that
attempts to enter Tunisian territory.”</p>
<p>On Sunday, TACBI, the Tunisian Campaign for the
Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, <a
href="http://tacbi.org/node/43">declared a victory</a>
when <em>Cornelius A</em> appeared to stop at sea,
and references to the ship’s planned arrival in
Tunisia disappeared from the internet.</p>
<p>The Tunisian port authority OMMP removed the
announcement for a scheduled stop by <em>Cornelius A</em>
from its <a
href="http://www.ommp.nat.tn/trafic-des-navires/">official
website</a>.</p>
<figure id="file-67656"><source media="(min-width:
72rem)"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>
<p>The Israeli shipping company Zim has also <a
href="https://www.zim.com/schedules/schedule-by-vessel?vesselcode=CR4&voyageno=12">deleted
from its website</a> the <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/tunisians-demand-government-block-entry-israel-linked-cargo-ship">references</a>
to the <em>Cornelius A</em> operating a service to
Radès on its behalf.</p>
<p>Yet as the ship appears once again to be sailing
towards Tunisia, trade union leaders are escalating
their calls on the government to stop it.</p>
<p>On Monday, the UGTT <a
href="http://www.ugtt.org.tn/%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%AD%D9%88%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%81%D9%8A%D9%86%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D9%87%D9%8A%D9%88%D9%86%D9%8A%D8%A9/">demanded</a>
that the government and port authorities reveal all
the facts about the ship and called for a
parliamentary inquiry into Zim’s covert dealings in
Tunisia.</p>
<p>The labor federation urged its member unions and port
workers to mobilize in order to “prevent this ship
from sullying Tunisian territory.”</p>
<p>The UGTT also called on Turkey to investigate the
ship’s connections with Israel that had been
previously denied by its ambassador, and not to invoke
Turkey’s warm relations with Tunisia as a cover to
fend off criticism and concern.</p>
<p>UGTT said that its “rejection of the entry of this
ship to our ports is a national stance taken only by
those who are most vigilant for Palestine, our central
cause.”</p>
<p>It demanded that the Turkish line Arkas that owns the
<em>Cornelius A</em> abide by Tunisian law and refrain
from any activity that “harms Tunisia’s sovereignty
and interests or negates its principled position that
Tunisia has no economic or diplomatic ties with the
Zionist entity.”</p>
<p>The UGTT also wants the government to compile a list
of foreign-owned vessels that are used by Israeli
companies in order to ban them from entering Tunisian
ports or surreptitiously delivering Israeli cargo to
the country.</p>
<h2>Second flotilla boat commandeered</h2>
<p>In 2014, US activists and labor organizers spurred by
Israel’s military attack on Gaza <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/charlotte-silver/bay-area-activists-declare-victory-after-israeli-carrier-cancels-all-ships">successfully
prevented</a> Zim ships from unloading at the port
of Oakland.</p>
<p>Now, Tunisian activists say that it is especially
unacceptable for an Israeli-linked ship to land in
Tunisia while Israel maintains a maritime blockade on
the occupied Gaza Strip.</p>
<p>On 29 July, Israeli military forces <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/70-members-congress-urge-support-gaza">stormed
and commandeered</a> the <em>Al Awda</em>, one of
two boats carrying activists, journalists and medical
supplies in an attempt to break the siege of Gaza.</p>
<div id="file-67661">
<div>
<blockquote data-width="550">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">SOS – John Turnbull
(Canada), Captain of ‘Freedom’ has been captured
in international waters and taken to Israel
against his will. Please take action now
including sharing his SOS Video: <a
href="https://t.co/gIPfc3YO5M">https://t.co/gIPfc3YO5M</a>
<a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ShipToGaza?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ShipToGaza</a>
<a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FreedomFlotilla?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FreedomFlotilla</a>
<a href="https://t.co/8NjB425Y1n">https://t.co/8NjB425Y1n</a>
<a href="https://t.co/AX0gGmc4ht">pic.twitter.com/AX0gGmc4ht</a></p>
— Freedom Flotilla (@GazaFFlotilla) <a
href="https://twitter.com/GazaFFlotilla/status/1026406411960500224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August
6, 2018</a></blockquote>
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<p>On Saturday, flotilla organizers <a
href="https://jfp.freedomflotilla.org/news/freedom-under-attack-as-it-carries-medical-supplies-to-gaza">said</a>
they had lost contact with <em>Freedom</em>, the
second boat attempting to reach Gaza.</p>
<p>“We have reason to presume that the Israeli
occupation forces have now begun to attack it and that
it has been surrounded in international waters,” the
Freedom Flotilla Coalition said. “The latest reported
position was approximately 40 nautical miles from the
coast of Gaza.”</p>
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