The Challenge of Genoa’s Dockworkers: ‘If They Touch the Flotilla, We Will Block Europe’
Genoa’s dockworkers, engaged in collecting and shipping aid for Gaza, vow to block Europe if the Sumud Flotilla faces attacks or intimidation.
The Port of Genoa has turned into a symbol of resistance and international solidarity.
Italian media reported that for weeks, Genoese dockworkers have been collecting aid for the people of Gaza, and on Saturday evening they renewed their clear and determined message: if the Global Sumud Flotilla, which set sail today loaded with food supplies, were to find itself in danger, an unprecedented response will follow.
“If we lose contact with our boats even for just 20 minutes, we will block all of Europe. From the Port of Genoa nothing will leave anymore,” declared representatives of the Autonomous Collective of Dockworkers (Calp).
Their words, spoken before 40,000 people, expressed the unbreakable bond between the Ligurian city and the international mission to break Israel’s siege on Gaza.
The collective’s spokesperson explained that the most delicate stage will begin “around mid-September, when these boats will arrive near the coast of Gaza, in the critical zone.”
He then added: “If we lose contact with our boats, with our comrades, even for just 20 minutes, we will block all of Europe. Together with our Usb union, together with all dockworkers, together with the entire city of Genoa.”
During the torchlight vigil, the dockworkers reaffirmed their commitment: “Our girls and boys must return without a scratch, and all our goods, which belong to the people, down to the very last box, must reach their destination.”
They also reminded that every year 13-14,000 containers leave the Genoa port for Israel, issuing a stern warning: “We will not let a single nail leave anymore. We will launch an international strike, we will block the roads. We will block everything.”
Words were matched with actions. Over 280 tons of foodstuffs have been collected and shipped thanks to the joint efforts of the dockworkers and the association Music for Peace.
“We want to show that the Port of Genoa is a civilian port and not a port of war. We want to send the signal that not only do we block weapons, but we also physically deliver aid to the Palestinian population,” explained the dockworkers.
The historic “Sala della Compagnia Unica” has been transformed into a warehouse of resistance, where teams of volunteer dockworkers organized, packed, and loaded the aid. Not only their labor, but also their vehicles and resources, were put at the service of a cause they consider not abstract solidarity but a duty of class and humanity.
The Sumud Flotilla therefore sets out from Genoa not only as a humanitarian mission, but as a direct challenge to an inhuman siege.
And the dockworkers, long at the forefront of struggles for dignity and justice, have made it clear they will not stand by: if anyone tries to stop the boats, “we will block all of Europe.
The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) — the largest maritime mission to Gaza since Israel’s illegal siege began 18 years ago — officially set sail from Barcelona, Catalonia, on September 2.
The flotilla of more than 50 ships is carrying much-needed humanitarian aid and attempting to open a “people’s humanitarian corridor” amid Israel’s illegal siege.
Since October 7, 2023, more than 62,000 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced. Israel is deliberately starving the population and attempting to ethnically cleanse the Gaza Strip.
Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, a member of the GSF steering committee, posted a video on social media prior to the flotilla’s departure saying: “The question we should be asking ourselves is not why we are doing this, but why is this mission needed? Why are our governments failing to step up and uphold international law?
“We don’t just need aid and food to be delivered to Gaza,” she said, and called for an end to Israel’s occupation, apartheid system and genocide of Palestinians.
Thunberg linked her climate activism to the opposition to genocide, saying that the GSF’s work is based on justice, freedom, equality, liberation and decolonisation.
“We cannot have any climate justice without social justice,” she said. “We cannot pretend to select a few people whose future we care about, while we ignore the sufferings of countless people today; not least in Palestine, but also [in places] such as the Congo, Sudan, Afghanistan and many, many other places all over the world.”
Saif Abukeshek, a Palestinian activist based in Barcelona and fellow member of the GSF steering committee, told the Barcelona media conference on August 31: “The whole movement is inspired by the Palestinian resistance. Historically, Palestinians have been leading nonviolent and disobedience mobilisations for so many years.
“We are not here to save Palestinians; neither to teach them about nonviolence nor tell them what type of resistance they have to choose. Any people who live under occupation have the right to choose how they want to resist that occupation.”
Yasmin Acar, who was aboard the Gaza Freedom Flotilla’s Madleen in June when it was illegally boarded and 12 activists taken hostage by the Israel Defence Forces, told the media conference that 30,000 people registered to participate in the GSF. There are 44 delegations taking part and more vessels will join the flotilla from Greece, Italy and Tunis.
Bad weather forced five smaller boats to return to port on September 1, but the GSF confirmed that “everyone is safe and accounted for, and the mission continues”.
“We remain steadfast in our commitment to reach Gaza … and to stand united in breaking Israel’s illegal siege with a humanitarian and nonviolent mission.”
[Follow the flotilla’s progress at globalsumudflotilla.org.]
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