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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">'Choose your side': Italian
unions launch nationwide strike over genocide in Gaza</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Dalia Ismail</div>
<div class="gmail-meta-data">
<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time" dir="ltr">September
22, 2025</div>
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<p>Unions and pro-Palestine activists in Italy are
holding a nationwide strike to protest <a
href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">Israel's </a>ongoing
genocide in Gaza.</p>
<p>Organisers of the day of action on Monday condemned
the Italian government and European Union's
complicity in the atrocities carried out by Israel
against <a
href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/palestine" target="_blank"
moz-do-not-send="true">Palestinians </a>in the
besieged Strip.</p>
<p>They also voiced support for the <a
href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/global-sumud-flotilla-sets-out-last-leg-journey-gaza"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">Global
Sumud Flotilla</a>, which is attempting to break
Israel's blockade on Gaza and deliver humanitarian
aid to the territory.</p>
<p>The strike was called for by the Autonomous
Dockworkers Collective (CALP) and the Basic
Union (USB) - a national grassroots trade union
confederation known for its militant platform - as
well as the Global Movement to Gaza Italy, a
solidarity network backing the flotilla's mission.</p>
<p>Guido Lutrario, USB's national secretary, said the
strike will put pressure on the Italian government
to take more effective action against Israel.</p>
<p>"We will stop the country - block ports and
stations, halt goods and movement to paralyse the
nation and force the government to choose whose side
it\u2019s on," Lutrario said.</p>
<p>Across Italy, grassroots mobilisations are taking
place in opposition to the right-wing government of
Giorgia Meloni and in support of the Palestinian
people.</p>
<p>At the port of Ravenna in northern Italy on 18
September, two containers <a
href="https://www.unita.it/2025/09/18/carico-esplosivi-diretti-israele-bloccato-porto-ravenna/"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">carrying </a>explosives
bound for Israel were blocked by the city\u2019s mayor
Alessandro Barattoni and local authorities after the
ship's contents were reported by dockworkers. </p>
<p>Earlier on 7 August, dockworkers in Genoa prevented
the Saudi-owned vessel Bahri Yanbu from loading an
Oto Melara cannon, produced by the Italian arms
manufacturer Leonardo. The weaponry was en-route to
the Emirati capital of Abu Dhabi.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>'If we lose contact with our boats, with our
comrades, even for just twenty minutes, we will
shut down all of Europe'</p>
<p>- <em>Riccardo Rudino, Genoa dockworker</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>CALP members from Genoa were on board a vessel that
set sail from Genoa on 30 August to join the Sumud
Flotilla. An estimated 50,000 people filled the
streets of the northern port in a massive show of
support.</p>
<p>At a rally accompanying the departure, dockworkers
issued a stark warning: that if Israel attacks the
flotilla, they will block all goods bound for Israel
and halt trade across Europe.</p>
<p>\u201cIf we lose contact with our boats, with our
comrades, even for just 20 minutes, we will shut
down all of Europe," dockworker Riccardo Rudino
said.</p>
<p>"Together with our union USB, together with all
dockworkers, together with the entire city of
Genoa."</p>
<h3>'Break the blockade'</h3>
<p>Italy is the third largest supplier of arms to
Israel after the US and Germany and the sixth
largest arms exporter globally.</p>
<p>Genoa is a key Mediterranean shipping hub for Italy
and the European Union, handling the equivalent of
2.74m <a
href="https://trans.info/en/container-traffic-spain-398141"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">containers
</a>in 2023.</p>
<p>According to the CALP, between 13,000 and 14,000
containers leave their region each year bound for
Israel.</p>
<p>For that reason, Genoa\u2019s port has become a
flashpoint for protests against the use of Italian
ports for arms shipments and dockworkers there have
a strong history of taking direct action against
wars they consider unethical.</p>
<p>In June, together with dockworkers in Marseille,
they refused to load arms onto a ship bound for
Israel.</p>
<p>Later in July, they coordinated with colleagues in
the port of Piraeus in Greece to halt another
shipment to Israel; and in August, they stopped a
shipment destined for Qatar that would have
eventually reached Sudan.</p>
<p>\u201cIn the face of states' inaction, it is up to us to
shoulder the burden and break the blockade on Gaza.
We want to do our part and show that if something
needs to be done, it can be done,\u201d said Jose Nivoi,
a CALP dockworker now on board one of the vessels
heading to Gaza, to the Italian newspaper La
Repubblica.</p>
<div>
<p><a
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target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><img
src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/read_more/public/images-story/palestine-gaza-olive-tree-land-day-march-2014-afp.jpg.webp?itok=baYwL-rd"
width="395" height="247" alt=""
class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img"
style="margin-right: 0px;"
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</a></p>
<p>The Gaza flotilla: What you need to know about
'sumud'</p>
<p><a
href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/explainers/gaza-flotilla-what-you-need-know-about-sumud"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">Read More
»</a>
</p>
</div>
<p>The dockworkers see themselves as capable of
disrupting the war economy in a way that might save
lives on the ground.</p>
<p>Past actions, including blocking arms shipments to
Saudi Arabia during the war on Yemen, have caused
ripples in Italy\u2019s foreign policy.</p>
<p>Niovi said: \u201cI challenge anyone to load a pallet of
weapons that kill children and then go home to eat
with your own child. How could you stomach it? You
can\u2019t just do nothing to stop this barbarity.\u201d</p>
<p>The port workers have faced serious consequences
for their political and social activism.</p>
<p>In 2023, they faced prosecution for blocking the
Bahri Yanbu and were accused of serious crimes,
including criminal association and endangering
transport safety.</p>
<p>The judge overseeing the case dismissed it, ruling
that their actions were political protests.</p>
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