We are at Maher Terminals in Elizabeth, NJ to #BlocktheBoat ! We demand: • The siege of Gaza is ended• Right of Return for all Palestinians• No to the continuing Nakba• The end of the Occupation#BDS @AROCBayArea @PortNYNJ pic.twitter.com/aA1ddW0oSh
— Labor for Palestine (@Labor4Palestine) July 25, 2021
According to a press release by the organizers, the protest is part of a global movement, and over 8,000 people worldwide had allegedly pledged to mobilize at different ports around the world to #BlockTheBoat.
This is not the first time BDS activists have mobilized at ports to stop Israeli cargo ships from unloading.
On June 2, 2021, protesters flocked to Seattle to stop another ZIM cargo ship.
Later, BDS activists blocked another ZIM cargo ship in Oakland. That effort ended in a victory for the activists, with the ship turning back to sea after workers with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 10 declined to cross the line of protesters to unload the ship’s cargo.
The Oakland incident was led by the San Francisco-based Arab Resource and Organizing Center, or AROC, as part of its weeklong “Block the Boat” campaign conceived as a response to Israeli actions in Gaza during the 11-day conflict last month, known as Operation Guardian of the Walls.However, it is rooted in a similar incident from 2014, when protesters in Oakland gathered to stop another ZIM cargo ship from unloading during Operation Protective Edge.This time, the spark behind the campaign was something else."We’re responding in large part to Palestinian workers themselves, with trade union federations having put out a global call to action against ongoing violence again Palestine," organizer Wassim Hage told The Jerusalem Post."This call for solidarity has been met by activists worldwide, from Oakland to Livorno, Italy, to Durban, South Africa, to NYC. While it’s difficult to know what will happen, we see our success in Oakland [and] Seattle... and the basis for our action in NYC, as tied to the stand organized labor has taken globally against Israel and for Palestinian’s right to return and to be free of violence on their homelands."The Post has reached out to ZIM for comments.
Sue Fishkoff/JTA and Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.