Palestine solidarity activists stage strategic shut downs in Italy

Italian activists joined the international call to “shut it down for Palestine,” including a shutdown of the Port of Genoa to prevent weapons transport through company ZIM

November 10, 2023 by Peoples Dispatch
Dockworkers and activists shut down the Port of Genoa for Palestine (Photo via BDS/X)

On November 9, activists occupied the European Union Parliament building in Rome to demand a commitment from Italy and all EU members to end the ethnic cleansing in Gaza. Activists occupied the building until the list of those killed in the Gaza Strip by Israel was delivered. Demands included an immediate ceasefire and “termination of agreements and funding through research programs that the European Union allocates to the colonial state of Israel every year.” This action follows student occupations of the Universities of Padua, Naples, and Rome.

As a Palestine solidarity activist stated, “The European Union and all member countries must commit themselves to much more than a ceasefire. Let the genocide end, the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people, and end the attacks of the settlers in the West Bank and end the occupation of the land of Palestine, and all political prisoners be released.”

The next day on November 10, unionized dockworkers, students, and activists shut down the Port of Genoa in order to prevent the transport of weapons through the shipping company ZIM, which is Israel’s main logistics company. Genoan unionized dockworkers are known for their militant anti-imperialist actions against weapons transport, having called similar actions against the shipment of weapons to Ukraine and Israel.