Photo by Sotiria Georgiadou
Despite the continuing summer time warmth in Athens, Greek protesters gathered on the port of Piraeus on the evening of July sixteenth to dam the loading of navy cargo believed to be headed for Israel, including to a rising wave of comparable demonstrations.
Organized by Greek commerce unions, leftist teams, anarchists, and communist collectives, the protest mirrored the mounting public anger over what many see as Greece’s complicity in Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza.
In a strong act of solidarity, protesters tried to delay port operations, searching for to forestall materials help for violence and to boost consciousness about Greece’s position within the battle. Protesters stuffed the piers with Palestinian flags, keffiyehs, and T-shirts bearing the slogan “Free Palestine,” chanting, amongst different slogans, “No cooperation with Israel – no port for genocide.”
A Greek consumer, probably affiliated with the group featured within the video, expresses solidarity with the protestors at Piraeus:
At the demonstration, a large coalition of Greek residents rallied in opposition to what they seen as unacceptable help for Israel’s actions in opposition to Gaza. Activists surrounded the port, lit flares, chanted slogans of solidarity with Palestine, and demanded that Greece finish its involvement in facilitating navy exports.
Τhe dockworkers union (ENEDEP) at Piraeus Container Terminal, owned by the Greek state and operated by Piraeus Port Authority (PPA), majority owned by China COSCO Shipping, played a key role in organizing the protest. In a public assertion, the union introduced that it might not permit the five containers, suspected of containing military-grade metal, to be unloaded whereas the ship remained docked. According to Union President Markos Bekris, the cargo was believed to be headed to Israel. He warned that if the cargo continued, the union could be ready to escalate the protests.
At the protest, they held banners condemning each the Greek and Israeli governments. Organizers framed their actions not solely as anti-Zionist, but additionally as a rejection of Greece’s rising position as a logistical enabler of international wars.
The message from protesters was clear: the Greek folks don’t need to be complicit in what’s extensively seen as genocide in Gaza. Demonstrators condemned the New Democracy government, led by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, for facilitating navy exports to Israel and for maintaining close relations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whilst experiences of indiscriminate bombings of civilians in Gaza improve.
