Global protests against Israeli aggression of Palestine continue to shimmer

By Harsh Thakor* 
Over 10,000 Palestinians have been mercilessly murdered in Gaza, with over 4,000 being children. The “humanitarian aid” contingents are virtually paralyzed. An approximate 1.4 million Palestinians have been forced to vacate their homes since the Israeli military began bombing the Gaza Strip on Oct. 8, 2023, in retaliation to a surprise attack by Hamas militants.
Israel is bombing ambulance convoys which are supposed to evacuate people to be treated in Egypt, claiming that there might be Hamas fighters amongst them, to mask or shield their war crimes. The largest hospital in Gaza, the al-Shifa hospital, is on the brink of running out of water and power. With shelters being drained out of adequate access to water, food, electricity and other critical supplies there is possibility of total breakdown.
To conceal their monstrous crimes from the peoples of the world, all communications have again been cut. Nevertheless the protests are blooming more and more to send shivers down the spine of the Zionist oppressors.
This support of imperialism has perpetrated the great repression of many bourgeois States against the solidarity movement with the struggle of the Palestinian people, and against Palestinian organizations present in these countries. The most illustrative case of this is Germany, where imperialism is one of the greatest patronisers of the State of Israel and its genocidal policies against the Palestinian people.
The German State has banned any action they consider linked to Hamas and has dissolved the Samidoun organization.including the Popular Palestine Liberation Front. It manifests the neo-fascist character of the German state, which blesses Zionism.

Actions worldwide of working class

These weeks also shimmers the spark of the proletariat in the imperialist countries, which, quite contrary to what their bourgeois rulers propagate, firmly support the Palestinian cause. It has been a thorn in the flesh to imperialism, striking it in the very backbone. The transport workers in Belgium stands out, where since Tuesday, October 31, they have refused to load and unload military material for Israel.
On October 26, in Kent, the United Kingdom, more than 150 proletarians blocked the entrance to the Intro Precision LTD weapons factory, a subsidiary company of the Israeli weapons manufacturer, Elbit Systems. In addition, they exposed the collaboration of the United Kingdom in the supply of weapons for the state of Israel, which was complicit in the genocide.
On October 30, in Toronto, Canada, proletarians and other activists of the INKAS Arms Factory, a company providing numerous military materials to Israel, made a picket blocking the entrance to the factory. They deployed banners in which you could read “You’ve got blood on your hands” and “Arms embargo on Israel now!”Workers blocking the entrance to the INKAS’ factory in Toronto. 
On the night of November 1, in Philadelphia, the US, workers in the health sector carried out a manifestation in the university campus against genocide and Israeli attacks against hospitals. Healthcare workers held a rally against the genocide in Palestine. 
IMT comrades in Modena, Italy) organised a campaign inside the FIOM (metalworkers’ union of the CGIL) in solidarity with the Palestinian people At a demonstration at the weekend, 2,000 workers and youth, both immigrant and native Italian, marched together in a lively demonstration, showing their full solidarity with the Palestinian people, calling for an end to the Israeli bombing and occupation.T
The mobilizations have upsurged in the Muslim countries, where the people rebel against the lackeys that govern their countries, and who have turned their backs on the Palestinian people to continue working for the interests of imperialism.
On Monday, 6 November, 2023, the Organization of Port Dockers in Barcelona (OEPB), the largest union of dock workers in the city, called for a cease-fire to the war in Gaza and declared that they will boycott the shipment of any weapons, on humanitarian grounds. “Workers have committed to not load, unload, or facilitate the tasks of any boat containing weapons,” a Spanish publication said.
Citing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document adopted by the United Nations in 1948, the union representing some 1,200 dockworkers at the Port of Barcelona said that it made the decision “with the sole purpose of protecting the civilian population, regardless of the territory.” The union said it would depend on humanitarian aid groups to recognise which shipments might contain weapons or “war materials.” Dockworkers in Barcelona have carried out a similar boycott in 2011 during the Libyan war.
The Barcelona dockworkers’ union is amongst several across Europe who are endorsing an immediate ceasefire to the ongoing genocide in Gaza in which over 10,000 Palestinians have been, more than 50, 000 wounded and 1.4 million displaced. The announcement by the Barcelona dock workers follows a group of transport unions in Belgium that about a week ago “called on their members to refuse to handle military equipment being sent to Israel”.
On Thursday, November 2, Greek trade unionists from the All Workers Militant Front (PAME) held a flash protest inside the Athens International Airport in solidarity with Palestine. PAME has also demanded that the Greek government suspend all economic, political, and military cooperation with Israel. The union called for an end to the provision of bases and other infrastructure by Greece to the US, NATO, and Israel.
Earlier, in 2021, South African dock workers had refused to load arm shipments to Israel in a show of solidarity with the Palestinian people. Dock workers from Naples in Italy had also refused to handle arms shipments heading for Israel.

Ports have become new forums or avenues for civil disobedience among pro-Palestine activists in the United States as well. On Monday morning, hundreds of protesters, holding banners reading ​“No Military Aid to Israel” and waving Palestinian flags, arrived at the Port of Tacoma in Oakland to block any efforts to load cargo onto Cape Orlando, a ship the protesters thought could be transporting weapons to Israel. The protesters chanted ​“Free, free Palestine!” and called for an immediate cease-fire and an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestine. The protest prolonged throughout the day.

These actions demonstrated, that the working class has internationalist spirit and that the attacks suffered by the Palestinian people are their very own.. All this also verifies that the support of bourgeois governments to the State of Israel lacks moral support, and that it is nothing more than another of the bourgeoisie’s conspiracies behind the back of the people and against it.

General protests

Here are some of the actions undertaken in the past fortnight, which have sent shivers down the spine of Imperialist countries and Israel. In Brazil the peasantry has shown solidarity with the Palestinian cause. An action was led by the League of Poor Peasants (LCP), in the Mãe Bernadete camp, where Palestinian flags have been planted.
In Norway, there have been multiple actions for Palestine over the past weeks. In Bergen, a rally was held every day of the last week. In Oslo, a demonstration was held on the 28th of October, comprising 600 participants, and on the 4th of November, 9000 persons assembled outside of the Norwegian parliament to protest the genocide. Rallies against the bombing of Gaza have been held in Bergen daily last week. The banner says “Support the Palestinian resistance! Free Palestine!”  9000 people gathered in Oslo on the 4th of November. 
The repression has escalated again in Germany, with for example the solidarity network Samidoun being banned. Despite this, 8,500 people assembled in Berlin to demand freedom for Palestine and to denounce the genocide committed by Israel. 1,400 police were deployed, with reinforcements from abroad.
In Hamburg, an event was staged analysing the world situation. Even this event, which manifested the spirit of the freedom of expression, was suppressed by the police, who were patrolling outside of the venue. Protesters climbed up the Neptunbrunnen in Berlin with Palestine flags.
A demonstration in solidarity with Palestine, as well as the struggle of the Kurdish people was held, in the district of Gazi, Istanbul, Turkey. After a mere 15 minutes, the police attacked the demonstration. Slogans such as “Free Palestine from River to Sea!”, “Imperialists Will Be Defeated, the Resisting Peoples Will Win!”, “Murderer Israel Get Out of Palestine!”, “The Palestinian People Are Not Alone!” were raised against the attack. 20 people, including three Partizan readers were detained. The detained were victims of police torture under arrest. Police attacked the demonstration in Istanbul, Turkey. 
On the 1st of November a rally with around 300 participants was held in Vienna, Austria which condemned the collaboration of the imperialists of the EU. The police intimidated the demonstrators. The banners say “Israel murders, the EU supports!” and “Freedom for Palestine!”
In Stockholm, Sweden, a demonstration supporting Palestine was held last weekend. The banner says: “Long live the armed resistance of the Palestinian people!” On Sunday the 5th of November thousands marched in Athens, Greece to the US consulate and Israeli consulate to protest the genocide, with militants of TKP/ML and KKE (m-l) creating a contingent in the demonstration. On Sunday, October 29, in Dakar, Senegal, hundreds of people made a march in solidarity with the Palestinian people. The Senegalese State repressed the mobilization. On Tuesday, October 31, hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the French Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.
On Wednesday, November 1, in Tunisia, people gathered to denounce the crimes perpetrated by Zionism in Palestine, and in support of the struggle of the Palestinian people. In the Yarmuk Palestinian refugee camp, in Damascus, Syria, thousands of Palestinians and Syrians took to the streets to support the Palestinians of Gaza and denounce the genocide that Israel is committing.

Students, journalists protest

On the morning of November 6, 2023, the students of the “Orientale” University of Naples, Italy, occupied their university to demand an immediate ceasefire in Palestine and the termination of all support of the Italian university with political, economic and military institutions of Israel. The students marked that there are several points of political, economic and military collaboration between the Zionist State and the Napolitan universities. 

The students conclude: “We demand that the university publicly expresses itself in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance and engages actively for an immediate ceasefire; that the university publicly acknowledge the genocide of the Palestinian population for which the Israeli government is responsible; that the university publicly condemn the human rights violations and war crimes committed by the government of Israel; and finally, that the agreements between “Orientale” University, the Israeli universities and the military institutions cease immediately, as they are complicit in the settler colonial oppression and apartheid.”
The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, condemned global and western mainstream media organizations for biased coverage of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. The journalists’ union accused global news media, particularly Western media, of propelling Israel’s genocide against Palestinians, by providing the state with journalistic camouflage to justify its atrocities and war crimes in Gaza.
When, the Israeli and US governments suggested—with no concrete evidence that the Palestinian Health Ministry had inflated the number of Palestinians registered as killed in Gaza the statement read. “By engaging in such unfounded speculation—driven by the propaganda of the Israeli war machine—media organizations are facilitating the mass death of Palestinians and laying the groundwork for genocide.”
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*Freelance writer