Activists protest to stop Israeli ship from docking in US, Canada
"Block the Boat" activists look to prevent Zim cargo ship from unloading Israeli goods on North America's West Coast.
By JPOST.COM STAFFZim cargo ship(photo credit: REUTERS)
American and Canadian activists are working to prevent an Israeli cargo ship from docking on the West Coast of the US or Canada, according to a report by Aljazeera. The protest action, called "Block the Boat" wishes to block a cargo ship of Israel's largest shipping company Zim Integrated Shippping Services Ltd.According to the Aljazeera report, the action is part of the BDS movement and plans to protest at ports in Oakland, California, Seattle and Vancouver. The protests will try to close the ports in the aforementioned cities to the Israeli cargo ship and prevent Israeli goods from being uloaded on the West Coast of North America.Justifying their action, Aljazeera quoted the organization s stating that, “From its founding in 1945 by the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Histradut, Zim has served Israeli settler-colonialism, bringing settlers to Palestine and serving as Israel’s only maritime connection during the 1948 war, supplying ‘food, freight, and military equipment’ used of course to carry out the Nakba. The worldwide commerce conducted by Zim today funds the occupation of Palestine with revenue generated on every continent.”The International Longshoremen and Warehousemen Unions (ILWU), who refused to unload a Zim ship's cargo in 2010 as a response to the Mavi Marmara incident, has stated that it has no plans to participate in this year's protest.
