A protest by residents of Tacoma, Washington, at the Port of Tacoma prevented the MV Cape Orlando from being supplied with military equipment ultimately bound for Israel for several hours on Monday. The action, which began before sunrise on Monday morning, has been followed closely by thousands around the world as resistance to Israel’s genocidal campaign against Gaza continues to develop.
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However, just before 5 p.m. local time, protesters reported that action was being shut down and were told to go home. Unlike the “block the boat” action that took place on Friday, Monday’s action was promoted by the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.
The Cape Orlando is part of the US Ready Reserve fleet, all of which are operated by the Department of Transportation in support of US military actions worldwide. The Cape Orlando has been used to ferry materiel for US military efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Numerous appeals have been made on social media to “block the boat” and prevent it from joining the Israeli war effort.
Two other protests of a similar nature broke out today, the first at the Boeing bomb plant in St. Charles, Missouri, and the second among longshoremen in Barcelona, Spain. The protest in St. Charles has since been broken up by local authorities, while dockworkers in Barcelona continue to refuse to load or unload ships bound for Israel.
The protest at the St. Charles Boeing Plant Monday morning lasted for hours as demonstrators used their bodies to block vehicles from entering the parking lot.
“There’s an ongoing genocide in Gaza that the United States is directly funding with no red lines,” Hoda Kadetia, a protester, told the local Fox affiliate. “So as all of us living in the United States paying taxes to support this genocide, we are saying it is not in our name.”