Protestors block Israeli cargo in California
(Video) Over 500 people gather at Port of Oakland in bid to prevent Zim ship from unloading in protest of Gaza flotilla raid. Organizers say dockworkers have agreed not to show up to unload vessel
Richard Becker ANSWER Coalition, one of the groups which organized the protest, told the San Francisco Chronicle: "Our objective was to boycott this ship for 24 hours, and we succeeded in doing that."
The newspaper reported that the demonstrators first gathered before dawn at Berth 58, where a ship from Israel's Zim shipping line was scheduled to dock Sunday, first in the morning then in the afternoon. It eventually arrived around 6 pm, Becker said, but by that time the dockworkers had agreed not to show up to unload the vessel.
Clip posted by protest's organizers on YouTube
More than 500 people showed up about 5:30 am Sunday to begin the protest, according to police estimates. By around 10 am the crowd dispersed, but about 200 protesters returned in the afternoon when the second shift of dockworkers were scheduled to work.
Becker said some workers showed up for the morning shift, but virtually none did for the second. All agreed not to unload the ship or cross the picket lines, citing concern for their personal safety. There were no reports of violence or arrests.
Clips posted on YouTube show the protestors marching to the port, chanting "free Palestine" and waving Turkish and Palestinian flags. They held signs calling for the boycott of Israeli goods and an end to the American aid to Israel.
'Killing civilians in cold blood'
The protest's leader said the dockworkers should refuse to accept "Israeli apartheid goods" and that the protestors' goal was to block the unloading for a total of 24 hours. He compared it to the struggle in South Africa in the 1980s, when many places refused to deal with the racist regime.
'We will not honor your Israeli commerce right' (Photo: AP)
"We want to send a clear message that if you commit acts of piracy on the high sea, if you go and attack civilians and kill them in cold blood, execution style, if you put Gaza under siege, if you build an apartheid wall, if you have a racist nut for a foreign minister like Avigdor Lieberman, who is calling for the expulsion of the Palestinian people from 1948, that we will not honor your Israeli commerce right here in this town."
The Oakland Port is not the first to witness an anti-Israel protest. Several days after the death of nine pro-Palestinian activists in a Navy raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla, Swedish dockworkers launched a weeklong boycott of Israeli ships and goods.
Peter Annerback, a spokesman for the Swedish Port Workers Union which has around 1,500 members, said workers were urged to refuse handling of Israeli goods and ships during the June 15-24 boycott.
In a statement, the union said the reason for the boycott "is the unprecedented criminal attack on the peaceful ship convoy In Gaza. Several peace activists were killed by Israeli commandos and other participants were detained without any reason."
It also urged other unions and organizations to join them through similar initiatives and called for Israel to be brought to justice for the attack and that it respects international law "and that the blockade of Gaza immediately lifted."
The Associated Press contributed to this report
