When should we come to the port of Oakland to stop another Israeli ship?
Block the Boat is planning a rally at 3:00, Sunday, October 26 at the port of Oakland. The rally was originally planned as a picket to coincide with the arrival the the Israeli ship Zim Beijing in the early morning of October 25, but the ship rescheduled its arrival, and now it is uncertain whether it will come at all. It will certainly not arrive in Oakland until at least October 27.
The rally is therefore a solidarity demonstration. Some people have voiced the concern that there are two non-Israeli ships to be unloaded at the port and that workers may regard the rally as unnecessary interference. However BTB is coordinating with some of the workers, so we have to assume that they have taken this into consideration. We advise everyone who is interested to sign up for BTB alerts by texting “join” to 510-346-5951 and to follow @blocktheboat on Twitter.
For those waiting to picket a Zim ship at the port in order to prevent unloading or loading of its cargo, we advise signing up for StopZIM alerts by texting “join” to 88202 as well as the BTB alert system. We will also let you know of further developments and especially if the Zim Beijing, currently on a heading towards the Russian Far East, begins to move in the direction of Oakland.
Are we forcing Zim to avoid the port of Oakland? Certainly they have tried to use misleading information and other tactics to deceive us. But Oakland cannot go it alone. Other cities have tried, but face a more difficult challenge in the US and Canada.
But what about other countries? Can Zim not be stopped in Latin American ports or South Africa, Norway, Barcelona, Greece and other cities and countries? If we can do it in Oakland, surely some of these places will not be more difficult. A global movement to stop Israeli shipping can be a powerful way to motivate the opening of the Gaza port and other changes in policy.
We are opening these conversations and will do what we can to foster the growth of this promising new way to challenge Israeli oppression of Palestinians.