(JTA) — Hundreds of protesters gathered at the port of Oakland to prevent an Israeli cargo ship from unloading.
About 500 protesters gathered at the port at 5:30 a.m. Sunday to meet the Zim lines ship and convinced dockworkers to agree not to unload it. The ship did not arrive until 6 p.m. and, at the request of the demonstrators, a second shift of dockworkers agreed not to cross the picket line and did not arrive to unload the ship.
The boycott was set to last 24 hours, an activist told the San Francisco Chronicle.
The protest was launched in reaction to Israel’s interception three weeks ago of a Gaza-bound flotilla in international waters off Gaza’s coast, in which nine passengers were killed during violence that ensued when Israeli naval commandos boarded one of the boats.
Protesters marched in the port waving Palestinian and Turkish flags while calling to "Free Palestine." They also called for a boycott of Israeli goods and the rescinding of American aid to Israel.
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