Thousand of pro-Palestine protesters have blocked an Israel-owned ship at a port in the Australian city of Melbourne, calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip as the occupying regime continues its brutal war on the besieged enclave.
Nearly 4,000 people rallied on Saturday and Sunday for the 15th week in a row, as they urged others to join them in the blockade of an Israeli ship at the city dock.
The protesters chanted “block the dock” while some of the demonstrators held up banners with the words “block Zim ships” on them, saying that they may be carrying weapons.
Victoria police said the rally initially started at the State Library of Victoria before carrying on through to the streets of Melbourne and then towards Parliament House.
On Friday, protesters prevented an Israeli-owned ship from being unloaded at the Port of Melbourne, resulting in four cargo ships being stranded along with 30,000 containers. The blockade has been going on since the
Mohammed Helmy, one of the protest organizers said the protest and blockade that has been going on for two days has been effective so far, adding that the action is intended to pressure Canberra to take action on Israeli crimes in Gaza.
He went on to say that “the action has completely blocked the port at the moment to send a strong message to the government that Melbournians are not happy with Zim ships being loaded from the Melbourne port.”
“Currently, the port is completely blocked from loading and unloading ships and this was possible because of workers’ unions support. It is intended to pressure the government to take action and stop the genocide in Gaza,” he added.
The protest organizer further noted that riot squad police used pepper spray to try to disperse protesters on Saturday but were unsuccessful.
Nasser Mashni, Australia’s Palestine Advocacy Network president, also said the decision to create a blockade and demonstrate came after months of peaceful protests that seemed to have “fallen on deaf ears,” stressing that it was “time to elevate our action” as Israel’s brutal aggression against Gaza continues.
Bruno Porchietto, International Container Services CEO, told reporters that the protests were costing the industry hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars.
“We’re really desperate because every hour that passes, hundreds of thousands of dollars are being lost…it’s not just us that are losing, it’s the Australian economy,” he said.
7News Australia also reported that the protest is costing Australia millions of dollars a day, as protesters also prevented workers from getting to work.
The Israeli regime waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime’s atrocities against Palestinians.
Since the start of the aggression, Israel has killed more than 25,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
The Tel Aviv regime has also imposed a “complete siege” on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.
