Pro-Palestinian supporters chanting “cowards” prevented a large US ship from leaving Northern California, bound for Israel to deliver military aid.
The protesters, organized by The Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC), claim that the Cape Orlando is headed to Tacoma, Washington, to be loaded with weapons and military equipment for the Jewish state.
Police were seen at the scene after at least three protesters climbed onto the military ship at the Port of Oakland on Friday morning.
“You’re fucking killing children!” the demonstrators shouted at the police.
The AROC asked the public to join them in “saying enough is enough” for the US government’s support for Israel in the latest conflict with Hamas, after the terrorist organization killed 1,700 Israelis on October 7.
‘This is a military cargo. This ship carries weapons that will certainly be used to continue killing our brothers and sisters in Palestine and elsewhere,” one man said over a loudspeaker, as reported by The Messenger.
Pro-Palestinian protesters saw the military ship climbing into the Port of Oakland on Friday morning
It is unclear whether the group’s claims about the ship are true, but a union official told the San Francisco Chronicle that it was currently empty and inactive.
“This has been dead for 17 years,” said Melvin Mackay, president of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.
However, contractors working off the ship told the outlet it would leave on Friday, although they did not know where.
The ARAC said in a statement: ‘Several protesters have locked themselves on the ship. The police have been called by the port authorities and arrests are now being made. Currently, over 200 community members are protesting directly outside the ship.
“Protesters are calling on communities in cities across the country and around the world to be alert for ships carrying similar cargo.”
Since the Hamas attack, Israel has unleashed its force on Gaza, killing more than 9,000 Palestinians since the war began.
The Oakland protesters demanded a ceasefire as they mourned the loss of innocent lives in Gaza during the conflict.
They held Palestinian flags and some reportedly locked themselves on the ship.
Their chants also included: ‘Liberated, free Palestine, from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.’
After police arrived, they closed off access to the ship’s berth, but protesters were already inside and surrounding the ship.
More protesters then gathered outside the area with signs such as: “Oakland will not support U.S. military conquest. Palestine will be fine.”
“We know the ship is intended as a military ship to Israel because of the courage of the workers,” Lara Kiswani, executive director of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center, told ABC7.
It is just the latest pro-Palestinian protest in the US and the West, where many have seemingly taken up the cause following Hamas’ attack on Israel last month.
Also on Friday, hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters held a demonstration at London’s King’s Cross Station to call for a ceasefire.
On Saturday, thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters closed part of the Brooklyn Bridge after joining forces with Orthodox Jewish members to flood the streets of New York.
The ‘Flood Brooklyn for Palestine’ protest drew thousands of demonstrators holding up signs reading ‘Free Palestine’ and ‘Zionism is Terrorism’.
Other signs read: “Biden is financing genocide” and “occupation is a crime.”
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken made a public appeal to protect Palestinian civilians during a critical visit to Israel and increased calls for “humanitarian pauses” on attacks on Gaza to get hostages out and aid in.
Gaza’s Health Ministry claimed on Friday that hundreds were killed after an Israeli attack hit an ambulance convoy.
Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV quoted the Gaza Health Ministry as saying that many were killed on Friday as the vehicles carried seriously injured people in Gaza.
Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qudra said earlier that they would send seriously injured Palestinians who urgently needed to be transferred for treatment to Egypt, from Gaza City and the north to the south.
Earlier this week, the House of Representatives approved a bill to send emergency aid to Israel to support its campaign to eradicate Hamas, after Democrats crossed party lines to support Republican push.
The $14.3 billion bill passed 226 to 196, gaining 12 Democratic votes and losing two Republicans. Representatives Thomas Massie, Kentucky, and Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia, voted against the bill on the Republican side.
The bill’s fate is likely doomed in the Senate, as Democrats have insisted that the aid should be tied to Ukraine and disagree with the pay-for: the bill recycles money intended for the IRS.