Workers in Italy shut it down for Palestine

All over Italy, workers and students held strikes, blockades and demonstrations to express solidarity with Palestine on Sept. 22. Port workers in Genoa and Livorno blocked shipments to Israel. Unions called the actions to “denounce the genocide in Gaza.” (Al Jazeera, Sept. 22) The actions demanded the Italian government sanction the Zionist state and halt commercial and military cooperation with Israel.

The day of action was initiated by dockworkers in Genoa in solidarity with the Sumud Flotilla, which is attempting to break the blockade of aid shipments into Gaza and deliver material assistance. The slogan “Let’s block everything!” resonated with workers and young people, who held strikes and demonstrations in 81 Italian cities. A major highway was blocked in Florence and students blocked university entrances in Bologna, Milan, Rome and Turin. Strikes shut down transportation in a number of cities.

The powerful actions on Sept. 22 follow a halt in Ravenna, Italy, to shipments to the Zionist apartheid state on Sept. 19. City and port authorities blocked the shipments after dockworkers alerted them to two truckloads of weapons destined for Israel. 

In supporting a call for mass actions on Sept. 22, the Unione Sindicale di Base (Union of Basic Trade Unions) stated: “The strike has been called in response to the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army’s blockade of humanitarian aid and the threats against the international Global Sumud Flotilla mission, which includes Italian workers and trade unionists committed to bringing food and basic necessities to the Palestinian population. The USB also denounces the inertia of the Italian government and the European Union, which refuse to impose sanctions on the State of Israel and continue to maintain economic and institutional relations despite the gravity of the situation.

“USB specifies that, should the situation deteriorate and the Israeli government prevent the flotilla from reaching Gaza in the days immediately preceding 22 September, the Confederation reserves the right to bring forward the general strike.” (usb.it, Sept. 20)

 The USB reported that there was international solidarity with the mobilization, including from Piraeus, a major port city in Greece.

Workers in Italy have set an example for unions everywhere to replicate — including in the U.S., where unions have, at best, only issued statements supporting an arms embargo of Israel.