Pro-Palestinian activists for the second day blocked an Israeli-owned ship from docking at the Port of Oakland in a protest against Israel’s military action in Gaza.
Dockworkers at the Port of Oakland honored a picket line for the second day in a row Sunday as San Francisco Bay Area protesters gathered to stop a Zim Integrated Shipping Services vessel from docking and unloading, the San Jose Mercury News reported.
Zim Integrated Shipping Ltd. is 32-percent owned by Israel Corporation — Israel’s largest holding company.
The ship rerouted Saturday afternoon and spent a day off the coast of California before docking at the port Sunday evening, the Mercury News reported.
Activists carried signs and shouted slogans such as “Gaza will be free,” “Boycott, Divest, Sanction. End Israeli Apartheid,” and “Resist Zionism and Imperialism,” the newspaper said.
Several dozen police officers monitored the situation but no arrests were reported.
Mohamed Shehk, a director at the organization Critical Resistance who attended the protests both days, said the purpose was to send a message to Israel that “we will not stand for the murdering of Gazans” nor “the ongoing occupation of Palestine,” the Mercury News reported.
He said the delay caused to the Zim ship is “enormous financially,” and that the longer protesters can keep them from docking, the more money Zim loses.
Mr. Shehk and Reem Assil, a member of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center, both expressed hope that protests would continue until the company no longer schedules stops at the port, the Mercury News reported.
A similar protest against a Zim ship in 2010 was held by hundreds of Bay Area activists condemning Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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