Pro-Palestine protesters block road at Tacoma port where US weapons ship bound for Israel is dockedThe New Arab Staff & Agencies
06 November, 2023Hundreds of protesters calling for Gaza ceasefire blocked traffic at the Port of Tacoma, where a military supply ship allegedly with US weapons bound for Israel is docked
Protests in solidarity with Gaza have erupted all across the US [Getty]
Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza blocked traffic Monday at the Port of Tacoma, where a military supply ship had recently arrived.
Organizers said they opposed Israel's war on Gaza and targeted the vessel — the Cape Orlando — based on confidential information that it was to be loaded with weapons bound for Israel.
Those claims could not immediately be corroborated. In an emailed statement, Air Force Lt. Col. Bryon J. McGarry, a spokesperson for the Department of Defense, confirmed that the vessel is under the control of the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command and is supporting the movement of U.S. military cargo.
“Due to operations security, DoD does not provide transit or movement details or information regarding the cargo embarked on vessels of this kind,” McGarry said.
The Cape Orlando drew similar protests in Oakland, California, where it docked on Friday before it sailed to Tacoma. About 300 protesters delayed its departure, and the U.S. Coast Guard detained three people who climbed onto the ship.
The three were released on a pier in San Francisco, Petty Officer Hunter Schnabel said Monday. He said investigations are ongoing against the three and others who had breached the federal maritime area.
By midmorning Monday, about 200 protesters remained at the Port of Tacoma, some carrying signs reading “No Aid For Israel” and “Free All Palestinian Prisoners,” emblazoned with watermelons, a symbol of Palestinian freedom. No arrests had been made, said officer Shelbie Boyd, a spokesperson for the Tacoma Police Department.
The protesters' goal was to block the Cape Orlando from being loaded, said Wassim Hage, with the San Francisco-based Arab Resource and Organizing Center.
"It speaks to the historic moment where people are coming out to say, ‘No. No funding for genocide, no U.S. bombs for bombing hospitals and killing children in Gaza,’” he said Monday.
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 23, which represents workers at the Port of Tacoma, did not immediately returned phone messages from the Associated Press on Monday.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said more than 10,000 Palestinians have been killed in nearly a month of war in Gaza, and more than 4,000 of those killed are children and minors. That toll likely will rise as Israeli troops advance into dense, urban neighborhoods.
06 November, 2023
Protests in solidarity with Gaza have erupted all across the US [Getty]
Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza blocked traffic Monday at the Port of Tacoma, where a military supply ship had recently arrived.
Organizers said they opposed Israel's war on Gaza and targeted the vessel — the Cape Orlando — based on confidential information that it was to be loaded with weapons bound for Israel.
Those claims could not immediately be corroborated. In an emailed statement, Air Force Lt. Col. Bryon J. McGarry, a spokesperson for the Department of Defense, confirmed that the vessel is under the control of the U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command and is supporting the movement of U.S. military cargo.
“Due to operations security, DoD does not provide transit or movement details or information regarding the cargo embarked on vessels of this kind,” McGarry said.
The Cape Orlando drew similar protests in Oakland, California, where it docked on Friday before it sailed to Tacoma. About 300 protesters delayed its departure, and the U.S. Coast Guard detained three people who climbed onto the ship.
By midmorning Monday, about 200 protesters remained at the Port of Tacoma, some carrying signs reading “No Aid For Israel” and “Free All Palestinian Prisoners,” emblazoned with watermelons, a symbol of Palestinian freedom. No arrests had been made, said officer Shelbie Boyd, a spokesperson for the Tacoma Police Department.
The protesters' goal was to block the Cape Orlando from being loaded, said Wassim Hage, with the San Francisco-based Arab Resource and Organizing Center.
"It speaks to the historic moment where people are coming out to say, ‘No. No funding for genocide, no U.S. bombs for bombing hospitals and killing children in Gaza,’” he said Monday.
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 23, which represents workers at the Port of Tacoma, did not immediately returned phone messages from the Associated Press on Monday.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said more than 10,000 Palestinians have been killed in nearly a month of war in Gaza, and more than 4,000 of those killed are children and minors. That toll likely will rise as Israeli troops advance into dense, urban neighborhoods.
Military Sealift Ro/Ro Departs Tacoma Despite Pro-Palestinian Protest
The civilian-crewed sealift ship Cape Orlando has loaded cargo at the Port of Tacoma and departed, despite the efforts of pro-Palestinian demonstrators to block the ship's progress. Protest organizers believe that the ro/ro ship was in Tacoma to take on a cargo of military aid for Israel, part of the Biden administration's effort to support Israeli self-defense.
According to protest organizers, several hundred people arrived at the terminal gates Monday morning in an attempt to block cargo operations for the Cape Orlando. A small group of kayaking protesters and members of the Salish tribe attended from the water side, monitored by a U.S. Coast Guard patrol vessel.
The degree of any impact on Cape Orlando's schedule appears to have been limited, and the vessel departed Tacoma later the same day. The U.S. military has declined to comment on sealift movements like Cape Orlando's, citing its operational security policy, and the ship has ceased transmitting her position on AIS.
Unlike the previous protest at Port of Oakland, the demonstrators did not breach the security perimeter or board the ship. According to the Coast Guard, three protesters who worked their way onto the Cape Orlando's pilot ladder in Oakland are under investigation for potential violations of federal law.
The protest's organizers believe that Cape Orlando is now headed to Israel. The Israeli military is currently engaged in an operation to eliminate Hamas, the terrorist organization that killed 1,400 Israeli civilians and military personnel on October 7.
So far, an estimated 10,000 Gazan residents have passed away during the Israeli response, though the numbers are provided by a Hamas-controlled health agency and cannot be verified. The conflict has polarized the American public, and the protest at Oakland was not an isolated incident: On Saturday, thousands marched in San Francisco and Washington to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The stevedores' union of the port of Barcelona (OEPB) has also indicated that it would block arms shipments, though it is not known whether such shipments were planned through ports in Catalonia.
"We have decided in assembly not to allow our port the activity of ships containing war materiel, with the sole purpose of protecting the civilian population, whatever the territory. No cause justifies the sacrifice of civilians," said the OEPB in a statement. "We pray that an immediate ceasefire be proclaimed and the search for peaceful solutions to the various conflicts."
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