Yesterday, for the first time in U.S. history, a group of peaceful protesters were able to stop the unloading of an Israeli ship in a U.S. port.
Organizers hailed the effort as a significant victory while the Israeli Consulate in San Francisco disputed that the protesters had achieved anything, claiming that the ship had not been delayed by protesters but was in fact always scheduled to arrive in the evening. According to Haaretz, the ship was eventually unloaded.
Palestinian trade unionists issued their June 7th call for boycott in the wake of the deadly raid of the Freedom Flotilla, echoing international calls for a lifting of the blockade on Gaza. Yesterday’s protest joins a June 15-24 boycott by Sweden, a two-week boycott by Norway and an earlier boycott by South Africa in protest of the Gaza war.
Yesterday was also the day that Israel officially announced an easing of the Gaza blockade (something I’d also posted earlier). Canada welcomed the change in policy. The Quartet (the U.S., the EU, the UN and Russia) also welcomed the easing of the blockade but maintained that the situation in Gaza was "unsustainable and unacceptable."
Worth reading:
- Activists prevent Israeli ship from unloading at US port (video footage as well)
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