Protesters Demand an Arms Embargo to Stop Weapons Bound for GAZA

SAN FRANCISCO (11-29) – On this “International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People” activists across the US, Canada and Europe protested Israel’s continued genocide in Gaza calling for an immediate arms embargo, resumption of adequate humanitarian aid and a viable ceasefire. In the San Francisco Bay Area, activists protested in San Francisco and Oakland demanding an end to the use of both the Port of Oakland and Oakland Airport as embarkation points for materiel shipped to Israel making both cities complicit in genocide along with every American taxpayer whose money supports the Israeli military.

During the noon time rally along San Francisco’s busy Embarcadero, speakers continued to denounce Oakland’s inaction in meeting their demands to embargo the shipments while reflecting on conditions on the ground in Gaza. In particular, Oakland Airport was singled out for having dispatched more than 280 shipments of technology and components to the Israeli military for use in Gaza since the beginning of this year. Some activists held signs appealing directly to airport workers to “Stop death cargos to Israel.”

One speaker in addressing the deteriorating conditions on the ground noted that Israel has violated the October 10th ceasefire agreement 497 times killing over 350 people and injuring 889 others as a result. He added that in no small part the estimated 600 aid trucks under the agreement that were supposed to enter Gaza every day to feed two million people has instead trickled to 150. This, while the Israeli army controls 58 percent of the territory as Gazans are squeezed into the remaining area bound by an unmarked “yellow line.”

Another activist speaking to protesters described the present conditions there by saying that “this is Gaza’s third winter under genocide and displacement. The people of Gaza, they’re living under tents while there are heavy rain and winds. The Zionist entity has proven time and time again that there is no agreement that will ever satisfy their barbarism, that will ever satisfy their savagery.”

In Europe, however, an early October one-day general strike in Italy saw more than two million people across the country in over 100 towns and cities shut down most sectors of the country in support of Gazans while calling for the resumption of humanitarian aid to relieve the oppressive life-threatening conditions the population has been suffering. As a result, Italian and Spanish workers unions have shown great strength and solidarity through a series of general strikes that have resulted in the slowing down of weapons being shipped to Israel

Italian unions have continued to call upon US workers along with the AFL-CIO International Longshoremen’s Association and the ILWU to “Stand with Palestine” in stopping the transfer of weapons bound for Israel from American ports. The US unions leadership has instead been reluctant to engage in those efforts and continues to remain silent on the issue.

Yesterday, on November 28, a general strike was held across Italy organized by the “aggressive grassroots” Unione Sindacale di Base (USB) that affected trains, airplanes and municipal transportation during the Sciopero Generale Contro la Finanziaria di Guerra that saw thousands take to the streets in Rome and Genoa. The strike was conducted to express solidarity with Palestinians and in reaction to Prime Minister Georgia Meloni’s continued vacillating support for Israel and her 2026 “war budget,” the government financial bill that in part calls for increased military spending at the expense of transportation, health, domestic social services and other programs.

Today, major protests on the “International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people” took place in London, Rome, Geneva, Lisbon and Paris where tens of thousands flooded the streets in a massive show of support in ending the Gaza genocide.

Report and photos by Phil Pasquini

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