Protesters, who are against the US providing military support to Israel during a highly destructive conflict with Gaza, have obstructed the departure of a military supply ship intended for transporting weapons to disputed regions in Palestine.
Approximately 200 demonstrators gathered at the Port of Oakland over the weekend, preventing the ship from sailing to Washington, where it was supposed to be loaded with armaments meant for the contested areas.
Some protesters even scaled a ladder on the ship’s side connected to a cargo hatch. The demonstration was coordinated by the Arab Resource Organizing Center, based in San Francisco.
“The community became aware that the ship was headed to Israel to carry military cargo to the apartheid state of Israel because of the courage of crewmembers who decided not to take this job,” said Lara Kiswani, the group’s executive director.
“I’m here at the Port of Oakland with a group that’s protesting the departure of this ship that is planning to deliver weapons to Israel in support of the genocide of innocent people in Gaza,” said protesters Becca Lewis.
“The goal is to get the ship workers to stand in solidarity with the movement of people who are concerned about the shipment of weapons,” she said.
The United States, Israel’s most significant and longstanding ally, has supplied the Israeli government with numerous shipments of arms since October 7, when Tel Aviv initiated the ongoing conflict with Gaza.
As of Friday, which marked the 28th day of Israel’s devastating assaults on the coastal region, the death toll had reached a minimum of 9,227 individuals, including 3,826 children and over 2,405 women. Additionally, at least 23,516 people have sustained injuries.
The Israeli government commenced this war following Gaza’s resistance groups’ Operation al-Aqsa Storm, their most substantial operation against the occupying force in years.
Throughout the course of the conflict, the United States has consistently supported Tel Aviv’s intense actions in the Palestinian territory under the pretext of “self-defense.”
Furthermore, Washington has repeatedly exercised its veto power in the United Nations Security Council to block resolutions calling for an end to the aggressions by the occupying regime.
