European Dockworkers Refuse to Load Weapons Aimed at Palestine

[Omaha Steve]

French dockworkers hold a banner to support a Swedish dockworker who was fired in retaliation for a six-day boycott of military cargo to Israel. Photo: WIP

June 12, 2025 / Rafeef Ziadah and Katy Fox-Hodess

On June 4, in response to the unfolding genocide in Gaza, France’s CGT dockworkers refused to load arms components bound for Israel at the country’s largest port in Fos-Marseille. Their action forced the ship to leave port without its deadly cargo.

Across Europe, dockers carried on the fight. In Genoa, Italian dockworkers pledged to inspect the same vessel and block it if weapons were found. At the Italian ports of Salerno and Scilla, the ship sparked protests. Sophie Binet, the CGT’s national secretary-general, called on the French government to immediately halt arms deliveries to Israel.

This was no one-off protest. It built on a decades-long tradition of internationalism, anti-militarism, and anti-imperialism among European dockworkers, including coordinated actions to block weapons to Saudi Arabia in 2019.

As organizers with Workers in Palestine, we support trade unionists around the world who are building solidarity with Palestine. Some of the most powerful actions we’ve seen in the labor movement globally have come from European dockworkers.

FULL story: https://labornotes.org/2025/06/european-dockworkers-refuse-load-weapons-aimed-palestine

[Turbineguy]

1. Those sending weapons to Hamas on the other hand....

will not.