SAN FRANCISCO, (PIC)-- In continuation of global protests against the Zionist massacre against Turkish and international peace activists on board the Freedom Flotilla late last May, a number of forces, unions, and American labor councils in the city of San Francisco, California, announced plans to stage a union and public sit-in rally on dock 57 of the port of Oakland on Sunday, when a merchant ship belonging to the Israeli Zim company for navigation will dock.
Union powers, Palestinian associations, and student and youth committees called for dense gathering from five in the morning for a sit-in blockade of the ship, and to encourage port workers and warehouses not to participate in unloading the Israeli ship. Participants will ask port workers and warehouses to display solidarity with the people of Palestine and the Freedom Flotilla convoy, and not to unload the ship’s cargo for 24 hours.
The union for port workers has had a major role in the struggle against racism within the United States and abroad. A strong and influential union, it boycotted the apartheid regime in South Africa in 1984, putting trade and apartheid regime ships to a complete standstill along the western coast. The union includes thousands of workers and staff.
According to union member and Palestinian-American activist Herzallah, “The Sunday sit-in is considered a milestone in the efforts of American workers and in the history of the Palestinian community at the same time. Dozens of committees, Arab-American forces, and friends of our people from the progressive forces against the war and occupation will participate in this sit-in. This marks a new phase for the American and Palestinian peoples. Our immediate aim is to break the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip without limitation or qualification.”
Herzallah added, "The port workers union and warehouses were able to play an important historical role. They succeeded in closing several ports in the United States to protest the U.S. war against Iraq and Afghanistan, and sent a message of solidarity to the port workers in South Africa in the summer of 2009, when they refused to load an Israeli ship there. All this urges us to communicate and cooperate with this union and other labor unions.”
He continued, "Sunday will contribute in accelerating the union’s efforts in the United States and in the siege of goods of racist Zionists and their ships and commerce. And the world has to answer the inevitable question: Do you support Israeli racism? Do you accept that the Palestinian people live outside their homeland deprived of their national rights and legal humanity? Will you take part in besieging Israel, as you did with the apartheid regime in South Africa?”
The society of American Muslims for Palestine in turn encouraged prayers to be held on the quayside and heavy presence early Sunday to participate in the sit-in.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
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