The Italian port of Ravenna has blocked two containers bound for Israel, after dock workers and government officials alerted the port authorities, local officials say. Meanwhile, several ports in Italy are today on strike in solidarity with Palestine.
City mayor Alessandro Barattoni said the port, one of the largest in the country, had accepted his and the local government’s request to block two trucks carrying explosives en route to the Israeli port city of Haifa. Barattoni also demanded that the Italian government prevent Israel from shipping its weapons via Italy.
In October last year, Italy’s hard-right government imposed a full arms embargo on Israel. However, the country still serves as a conduit for weapons bound for Israel.
Earlier this month, a representative of a dockworkers’ union in Genoa pledged that the union would “shut down all of Europe” if the Gaza aid flotilla, currently on its way to Gaza after multiple suspected drone attacks, lost contact with the mainland.
On Friday 19 and Monday 22 September, several Italian trade unions will strike in solidarity with Palestinians and the Gaza-bound flotilla. Monday’s work stoppage will affect ports in Genoa and Livorno. "We will not let one pin pass through the port," Riccardo Rudino of the Genoese Calp dockers union told the media.
Friday’s strike and accompanying protests, coordinated by the Italian trade union federation CGIL (Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro), said that its action aimed to put pressure on prime minister Giorgia Meloni “to cancel all commercial and military agreements with Israel, lift the humanitarian embargo and recognise the state of Palestine”. The UK is reportedly preparing to recognise Palestine imminently.
