REPRESSION TARGETS CHITA ANARCHISTS ALREADY JAILED FOR WAR RESISTANCE
AND ANTI-REGIME GRAFFITI
~ Antti Rautiainen ~
The regional prosecutor’s office for the Trans-Baikal region in eastern Siberia
has submitted a petition to a local court to recognize the “Trans-Baikal Left
Association” as a terrorist organisation. The petition refers to the telegram
channel 75zlo, allegedly maintained by jailed anarchists Aleksandr Snezhkov and
Lyubov Lizunova, which the petition asks to declare as “leaders” of this
association.
The court hearing is scheduled for January 13. Currently the channel has 72
subscribers, and no posts have been published there since the anarchists were
detained. If the court agrees with the prosecutor’s office and recognises 75zlo
as a “terrorist community”, any activity related to it will be prohibited. In
Russia, “forming a terrorist organisation” is punishable from 15 years in prison
to a life sentence. Aleksandr does not agree with the prosecutor’s claim and
will seek to participate in the hearing.
Snezhkov and Lizunova, then 19 and 16 years old, were arrested in October 2022
in Chita, Eastern Siberia, and accused of “vandalism” and “propaganda of
terrorism” for spraying graffiti against the regime and maintaining anti-war
Telegram channels. More than two years later, in November 2024, they were
sentenced by a military court to 6 and 3.5 years in prison, respectively.
75 is the regional code of the Trans-Baikal region used in car licence plates,
and zlo is an acronym for both the Trans-Baikal Left Association and the popular
anti-police slogan “to revenge everything on cops”.
Last October, Snezhkov was sentenced to an additional five years for
“justification of terrorism” for reading his case files to his cellmates. During
his imprisonment, Snezhkov has been sent to solitary confinement for long
periods, last spring he spent 90 days in the hole. During his current pre-trial
detention he was again sent to the hole for 20 days.
Recently, a support group announced a collection of 280 thousand rubles (about
£2,600) to help the two anarchists for costs of parcels during the next six
months.
Letters of support must be written in Russian (use auto-translate) and can be
sent to Aleksandr at:
Снежкову Александру Евгеньевичу 2003 г.р.
Россия, 672010, Забайкальский край, г. Чита, ул Ингодинская, 1а, СиЗО-1. России
по Забайкальскому краю
and to Lyubov at:
Лизуновой Любови Витальевне, 2006 г.р.
Россия, 670000, г.Улан-Удэ, ул.Пристанская, 4-а, ИК-7
It is also possible to write to Alexandr via prisonmail.online using region
“Zabaykalsky Krai” and prison “SIZO-1 Chita”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With information from Moscow Anarchist Black Cross, Fires of Freedom and Ivan
Astashin
The post Russia plans to declare anti-war Telegram channel a “terrorist
organisation” appeared first on Freedom News.
Tag - Anti-war
ANARCHIST EVALUATIONS DISCUSS TENSIONS WITH RHEINMETALL ENTWAFFNEN ORGANISERS
AND AUTHORITARIAN LEFT GROUPS
~ Cristina Sykes ~
Evaluations of last summer’s anti-militarist camp in Germany have highlighted
the difficulties imposed by centralised organising and the militarist rhetoric
among authoritarian left groups. The Berlin-based “A-Barrio” evaluation tells
how the anarchist self-organised space struggled with the camp’s
hierarchically-coordinated structure and lack of clear responsibility-sharing,
while the monthly Graswurzelrevolution criticised the deeply militaristic and
authoritarian tendencies of “red” groups in the camp.
The Rheinmetall Entwaffnen protest camp took place last August in Cologne as a
week-long gathering of workshops, discussions and protest against Germany’s
largest arms manufacturer, and the country’s wider remilitarisation drive. It
went ahead despite repeated attempts by city authorities to ban both the
campsite and a planned demonstration, as organisers pressed on, drawing hundreds
from across Germany and beyond. The week culminated in a large demonstration on
30 August, when police deployed around 1,600 officers, used water cannons and
pepper spray, kettled participants for hours and arrested several hundred
people.
The ‘A-Barrio’ evaluation argues that for the camp organisers, “coordination and
organisation meant centralising the decision-making in the common assembly,
delegation, and a selective unified appearance”, while for the anarchists
“autonomy and self-organization meant acting from one’s own initiative and
responsibility, creating open procedures, organising through horizontal
decision-making processes, having space for improvisation, and refusing to be
told how the struggle should be or look like”. The writers note that “much of
the camp’s infrastructure depended on autonomous initiatives; the kitchen, sani,
awareness team, coffee stand. These groups were self-organized and somewhat
politically close to us, although we did not actively engage in common
procedures together. We can say that self-organization was critical in creating
mutual aid in moments of crisis, such as the hour-long police kettle that saw
many groups and individuals organise themselves in solidarity with the kettled
comrades. Their role shows that autonomy was only a problem when it appeared in
forms that challenged existing structures or expectations”.
Tensions with the camp’s central organisers became most visible around questions
of political autonomy and protest tactics. One flashpoint concerned the
appearance of party-political actors, including a planned talk by a
parliamentarian from Die Linke, which prompted A-Barrio participants to hang a
banner declaring the party “not welcome” — a move that led to pressure to remove
it under the camp’s ‘code of conduct‘. On the final demonstration, A-Barrio
marched as part of an autonomous block that refused several imposed conditions,
such as blanket bans on face coverings and protective equipment. The evaluation
describes how this block, alongside the so-called ‘Revolutionary Barrio’ of
Marxist groups, was effectively isolated, kettled and targeted by police, while
the rest of the march continued. The authors argue that this was not accidental,
but flowed from a protest structure that prioritised control and recognisable
leadership over pluralism and collective self-defence.
The assessment by Graswurzelrevolution focuses on the overtly militarist
politics of authoritarian left groups at the anti-militarist camp. “From the
‘Revolutionary Barrio‘ came repeated pronouncements in favor of a people’s war
and the East German People’s Army… A young man wearing a Stalin T-shirt was
asked if he was aware of whom he was promoting... according to his
indoctrination, the Gulags were just imperialist propaganda... Hammer and sickle
flags left no doubt: authoritarian communism is a revenant; only the Communist
Party can set us free“. Such displays, the authors argue, were expressions of a
political culture that normalises hierarchy, discipline and violence and
marginalises feminist, anti-militarist and anti-authoritarian perspectives.
The A-Barrio initiative will meet this week in Berlin “to discuss openly whether
or not to have a presence at the next Rheinmetall Entwaffnen Camp and also the
option of our own anarchist-autonomous-antimilitarist camp, inside or outside
Germany”.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Machine-assisted edit. Photo: Graswurzelrevolution
The post Germany: “Frustration” with centralism, Tankies at anti-militarist camp
appeared first on Freedom News.
STOP ARMING ISRAEL TARGETS FORGED SOLUTIONS OVER ROLE IN SUPPLYING FIGHTER JETS
USED IN GAZA
~ Scott Harris ~
Sheffield-based protest group Stop Arming Israel says its activists this morning
once again blockaded the River Don site of weapons manufacturer Forged
Solutions. The action follows the group’s previous blockades of the same site in
August and of the company’s Meadowhall factory in July.
Protesters halted traffic entering the River Don site, standing in front of the
gates with banners, chants and speeches denouncing the company’s complicity in
Israel’s genocide of Palestinians. Despite a heavy police presence, they
continued turning cars and lorries away until 8am. Later in the morning, a
larger protest organised by local pro-Palestine groups gathered outside Forged
Solutions’ Meadowhall site.
The blockade formed part of a national day of action against the F-35 fighter
jet, currently being used by Israel in its ongoing assault on Gaza. Called by
the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the coordinated actions also targeted F-35
supply-chain sites in Brough, Cheltenham, Havant and Rochester, demanding a
comprehensive arms embargo on Israel.
> “We’ve lobbied the council and mayoral authority countless times about
> Sheffield’s complicity”, said one participant, “Two years into this genocide,
> campaigning is not enough—we must halt the activities of these factories and
> disrupt the supply chain”.
The post Protesters blockade Sheffield weapons factory in national day of action
against the F-35 appeared first on Freedom News.
CIVILIANS FACE REPRESSION FOR SHARING RUSSIAN TROOP MOVEMENTS
~ Nikita Ivansky ~
In September 2025, opposition media in Belarus estimated that one thousand
civilians —many unknown to to human rights defenders—have been prosecuted for
spreading intelligence about Russian troop movements on Telegram since the start
of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2024.
Preparations for the invasion were made in Belarus under the guise of military
training. When Belarusians found themselves on the Kremlin’s side of the war,
there existed a partisan movement which sabotaged the railroad system to
paralyze troop movement, while a larger part of society joined the silent
resistance by taking pictures and videos of Russian military personnel at bases
or in transit. They sent these images and videos to different Telegram channels
to provide the Ukrainian resistance with crucial information on the movement of
aviation or rocket/drone launches, which often targeted civilian infrastructure
One of the biggest information gathering projects that emerged from this was
called Belarusian Hajun, a Telegram channel with a bot to where people could
send pictures directly. Within several weeks, the project exploded, with over
30,000 information points sent in the first 45 days of the invasion.
While the project was a huge open-source intelligence success in countering the
Russian war, the Belarusian state began hunting those providing such information
from the very beginning. Among them was antifascist Anna Pyshnik, who was
sentenced to three years in prison for sending pictures of the military on
Telegram. She served her whole term and was released in 2024, she had to leave
Belarus in fear of further political prosecution.
“When the war started, it was difficult to comprehend”, said Pyshnik after her
release. “The very next day, I heard something like an explosion; even our
building shook. I ran outside and saw a rocket trail. I decided to film it. You
just stand there and realise how close the war is, you realise how the
authorities are lying when they say that nothing will ever happen to Ukraine
from Belarusian territory. I understood that people needed to know what was
happening. So I sent the video I had filmed to independent media outlets. Two
days later, I filmed military helicopters over the city and sent that to the
media as well”.
At the beginning of 2025, the Belarusian secret police infiltrated a critical
Telegram chat on Belarusian Hajun, obtaining information on thousands of
accounts working for the project. Many of these accounts belonged to people
inside the country. Since then, a massive wave of repression has begun against
anyone who participated in the project by sending reports. At least 54 people
were prosecuted for helping the project under the charge of “aiding an extremist
organisation”.
The attack on the Belarusian Hajun project was made possible by an old link
found on the phone of someone arrested before February 2025. Created in 2022,
this link allowed them to join a closed chat containing critical information.
This is not the first time the KGB has managed to access closed chats and
collect information leading to more prosecutions.
The post Belarus’s informational partisans appeared first on Freedom News.
HUNDREDS ARRESTED IN A MASS KETTLE OF MARCH CLOSING ACTION CAMP AGAINST THE ARMS
INDUSTRY
~ Gabriel Fonten ~
Police in Cologne, Germany used heavy handed tactics on Saturday (30 August)
against a peaceful mass march concluding an anti-militarist camp in the city.
The 3,000-strong parade had set out from the “Rheinmetall Entwaffen”
antimilitarist camp to meet the yearly rally of the Cologne Peace Forum. One
participant described the event as “a historic moment when the few hundred,
mostly older participants of this rally watched hundreds, mostly younger people
from the camp, who had travelled from both near and far”.
Yet the march was not allowed to continue uninterrupted, as marchers were set
upon by around 1,600 police in full riot gear, backed by water cannons and armed
with pepper spray. The demonstrators quickly reconfigured into a protective
block formation (using banners to separate and protect participants from police)
taking “3 hours to move one kilometre” under consistent harassment by the
police.
After dividing and kettling the parade, around 600 participants were arrested
over the next five hours. Medical non-profit “Demosanitäter” reported treating
147 injured participants and at least 216 were treated at the “Rheinmetall
Entwaffen” camp.
Justifications for this brutal crackdown were manufactured by both the police
and the establishment media, with the Tageschau news program running headlines
including “Riots at anti-war demonstration in Cologne”—presenting protesters,
rather than the police, as the instigators of violence. In fact, of the 600
people arrested only one was charged with “resisting arrest”.
Cologne police had previously prohibited both the camp and parade citing risks
of “radicalisation”, but this was overturned in court. While it stood, the ban
seems to have only increased participation with organisers reporting growing
mobilisation as well as the creation of an “anarchist neighbourhood” at the
camp.
The post Germany: Heavy repression at Rhinemetall anti-militarist demonstration
appeared first on Freedom News.
DESPITE POLICE BAN, PREPARATIONS CONTINUE FOR RHEINMETALL PROTEST CAMP IN
COLOGNE AT THE END OF AUGUST
~ Cristina Sykes ~
The camp, running between 26-31 August, combines workshops, discussions and
cultural events with protests targeting arms companies across the Rhein-Ruhr
region. The Rheinmetall Entwaffnen (“Disarm Rheinmetall”) alliance, formed in
2018, is organising the week-long gathering to oppose Germany’s leading arms
manufacturer and the wider militarisation drive.
Cologne police prohibited both the camp and a planned “parade” to the nearby
Konrad-Adenauer barracks, citing risks of “radicalisation”. A court upheld the
ban on 15 August, even pointing to the century-old anti-war slogan Krieg dem
Krieg (“war on war”) as supposed evidence of violent intent. Organisers reject
the reasoning as political repression. “The camp will take place – we are very
optimistic,” said Mila, a spokesperson for the alliance. “We will resist the ban
legally and politically. The authorities may want to silence the anti-militarist
movement, but we will go ahead”.
The camp is expected to draw hundreds of participants from Germany and abroad,
including anarchist collectives, feminist groups, anti-fascists and
internationalist networks. A dedicated anarchist barrio has been announced, with
organisers reporting growing mobilisation since the ban was declared.
Workshops will cover topics such as the reintroduction of conscription, weapons
exports, the impact of militarisation on women, and new technologies like AI in
warfare. International guests are also invited to share their struggles. “We
want to build a global network against war and militarisation”, said Mila.
“People come to share experiences so we can act together”.
The German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, home to Rheinmetall’s Düsseldorf
headquarters, has become a focal point for opposition to the arms industry.
Facilities in Cologne-Mülheim, Neuss and Weeze are all linked to the production
of tanks, artillery and fighter jets. In recent days, activists marked a Siemens
site in Munich with graffiti and banners denouncing its role in Bundeswehr
automation. Another alliance, Rheinmetall Enteignen, has called for a
demonstration outside Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger’s villa near Düsseldorf.
The Clown Army is also mobilising
While police and media point to clashes at past camps, organisers maintain that
repression itself fuels confrontation. Die Linke MP Lea Reisner also criticised
the Cologne ban as “a massive and unacceptable encroachment on the
constitutional right of assembly”.
For the organisers, the outcome is clear. “We will make the camp happen, with or
without permission”, Mila said. “The repression only shows why our struggle
against militarisation is necessary”.
The post Germany: Anti-militarist camp to go ahead “with or without permission”
appeared first on Freedom News.
BETWEEN LABOUR’S BAREFACED MILITARISM AND A DOMESTICATED PEACE MOVEMENT, IT
FALLS TO ANARCHISTS TO STEP UP RESISTANCE TO WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
~ Ned Skinn’ ~
The patriotic flag-waving and bunting to commemorate the 80th anniversary of
D-Day has for now kept our attention away from another upcoming anniversary—that
of the dropping of atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
in August 1945. The images of destruction and human suffering that followed
showed a horrific reality, reflected in ‘what it could be like’ films like
Threads. Humanity took a deep breath in and decided no-one wanted that again. It
was the fear of ‘mutually assured destruction’ that has, arguably, kept the
nuclear peace since then.
But now, for the first time in almost 20 years, it has just been announced that
American nuclear weapons are to be based on British soil. The British Prime
Minister tells us that we must prepare for war. There is talk of conscription
and a ‘Dad’s Army’-style volunteer defence corps. The right-wing press tries to
sell us the lie that we could survive a nuclear exchange. Businesses are being
offered courses on remaining operational during war. Even ‘enemies within’ like
Palestine Action are being created and police powers increased to quell
potential civil unrest.
Against all this, the anarchist movement in this country has a long history of
involvement in anti-militarism and resisting nuclear weapons, much of which may
have been forgotten. It may be useful to reflect on that past.
Shortly after Britain started testing its own nuclear weapons, in 1952, came the
first generation of anti-nuclear protestors with the formation of the Campaign
for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and the more radical Committee of 100. They had
massive support from the public and it wasn’t long before the Labour Party
realised the potential to gain votes from that support. Public concern,
particularly after the global tension created by the Cuban missile crisis of
1962, meant that many believed Labour when they promised, “Vote for us and we’ll
ban the bomb!”.
As anti-militarists, anarchists had been involved in earlier movements against
war, and warned that the Labour Party could not be trusted. Sure enough, in
1964, the ‘ban-the-bomb’ Labour Party returned to government and wasted no time
deciding to further develop Britain’s nuclear arsenal. Those lies and that
betrayal should have been a lesson to remember forever.
Unfortunately, like many movements with radical beginnings, the CND and other
peace movement organisations had come to be led by middle-class liberals,
Christian pacifists, and entryist state-socialists. Since then, generations of
people wanting to ‘do something’ have been drawn into the same dead end of
writing to politicians, going on marches, and being encouraged to “vote Labour
without illusions” again and again. This attitude carried on into the 1980s’
intensification of the Cold War. Despite mass demonstrations and the camp at
Greenham Common, the mainstream leadership of the peace movement continued to
channel it all into innocuous protest and and electoral politics.
The 1980s also saw a resurgence of the anarchist movement. Interest in what was
later to become the Class War Federation started after their presence at CND
demos. The anarcho-punk scene and anarchists’ involvement in the animal rights
and environmental movements boosted interest in our ideas. Direct action, in all
its forms, became popular. Tory attacks on the working class provoked major
strikes like the miners, printers and ambulance staff, encouraging
class-struggle anarchist politics and leading to the creation of specifically
working-class organisations like Anarchist Communist Federation.
So, what next? We can only wait and see what effect that recent events have on
the wider population, particularly the working-class. I believe things might
have to get worse before they get better. With the increasing authoritarianism
and militarism of our society and intensified attempts to suppress dissent, the
Labour government is showing its true colours. How much will the population take
before they rouse from their sleep and do something?
We must remain anti-militarist and point out the clear fact that the Labour
Party is not the solution but the cause. This will put the left in a quandary,
so while we may be small in numbers we must speak and act with integrity. We
need to take care but we also need to stand up, shout and get organised. It is
anarchism that could provide the kindling that ignites the fire of change. We
just need to light that match.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Top image: Anti-nuclear blockade at Faslane, 15 April 2013. Ric Lander on Flickr
CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
The post Nuclear weapons on British soil appeared first on Freedom News.
AIR BASE LINKED TO UK AND US COMPLICITY WITH ISRAELI GENOCIDE IN GAZA
~ Stanton Cree ~
Palestine Action say its activists entered RAF Brize Norton, the largest air
force base in Britain, and damaged two Airbus Voyager military planes. In a
press release the group said two activists broke in using electric scooters, and
targeted the planes with crowbars, and red paint sprayed from repurposed fire
extinguishers, “symbolising Palestinian bloodshed”. Both activists appear to
have made their escape. Daily flights leave the base to RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus,
used for military operations across the Middle East, including hundreds of
surveillance missions in support of Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza. Brize Norton
also recently hosted Israeli Air Force transport flights.
Airbus Voyagers can be used to carry military cargo and refuel military
aircraft. They have been used to refuel RAF and US military planes during their
bombing runs in Yemen, which killed hundreds. Akrotiri is also used to the
transport US military cargo to transport US military cargo to the Israeli
military. In a speech to troops at Akrotiri in December 2024, Keir Starmer
stated that “Quite a bit of what goes on here can’t necessarily be talked about
[…] we can’t necessarily tell the world what you’re doing”. This speech was made
after Israel had already massacred tens of thousands in Gaza, with
reconnaissance flights from Akrotiri contributing up to 1,000 hours of footage
of Gaza used to assist Israel.
“Despite publicly condemning the Israeli government, Britain continues to send
military cargo, fly spy planes over Gaza and refuel US/Israeli fighter jets”,
said a spokesperson for the group, who stated that that “by decommissioning two
military planes, Palestine Action have directly intervened in the genocide and
prevented crimes against the Palestinian people.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Image: Palestine Action
The post Palestine Action target military planes at RAF Brize Norton appeared
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AMAZON TARGETED FOR COMPLICITY IN ISRAEL’S GAZA GENOCIDE, TELEKOM FOR
COOPERATION WITH THE GERMAN MILITARY AND ELON MUSK’S STARLINK—COMMUNIQÉ
~ Juju Alerta ~
An anti-militarist group has claimed responsibility for two arson attacks on
commercial vehicles from Amazon and Deutsche Telekom in the early hours of
Tuesday. The Amazon vans were torched on a site on Koppelweg, in the south of
the German capital, while Telekom parking was situated in Lichtenberg in
Berlin’s east, reported German media. No people were hurt.
In a communiqé, the un-named group said it was “celebrating” the opening of the
new Amazon Tower in Berlin, citing disgust with the company’s lending its
computing power to the Israeli military (along with Google and Microsoft). “The
destruction and starvation in Gaza unfolding before our eyes, the planned
complete relocation of the population, and the AI-based massacre and mutilation
of hundreds of thousands of people, including many children, are being
calculated and stored on Amazon Web Services’ servers”, said the group. It also
named Amazon as a key contractor for the American military and a “generous
sponsor of King Trump’s military parade … State and capital in lockstep toward
fascism”.
Telekom was targeted due to its “support for the Bundeswehr” and as a “supplier
of IT to border authorities, police, and intelligence services”, said the
communiqué. The activists also cited T-Systems, which works in collaboration
with Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite network. Citing Amazon’s competing Project
Kuiper, the text said that “Musk and Bezos, with their corporate networks, are
thus technocrats who not only profit from wars but can now influence their
course”.
“Demanding life against militarism and technologies of death is right, just as
it is right to claim and defend antimilitarism against nationalism”, concluded
the commuiqué, “It is right to liberate life from all militarism and war, from
the state and patriarchy”.
Amazon condemned the act, a spokesperson told Reuters, while Deutsche Telekom
said it could not comment on pending investigations. These attacks are not
unusual, noted observers. In 2020 and 2021 more than 400 cars were set alight in
Berlin. In 2021, the total number of cars, including those that caught fire when
vehicles in the vicinity were torched, surpassed 700.
The post Berlin: Anti-militarists claim arson of Amazon and Deutsche Telekom
vehicles appeared first on Freedom News.
FRENCH AND ITALIAN DOCKWORKERS UNITE IN PRACTICAL RESISTANCE TO THE ISRAELI
GENOCIDE IN GAZA
~ David TNnzk ~
On Thursday, 5 June, workers at the port of Marseille unionised with CGT and
backed by a solidarity presidium, successfully refused three containers full of
military equipment which were scheduled to be loaded onto the Contship Era,
chartered by Israeli shipping company ZIM.
The shipment included 14 tonnes of machine gun components and spare parts bound
for Haifa.
The ship was due to make a technical stopover for refuelling at Genoa on Friday
6 June. A protest presidium was called by the Genoa Port Workers’ Collective
(CALP) and the USB trade union.
Contingency plans were in place: in the event that the French comrades had
failed to sabotage the cargo, the Italian dockworkers were prepared to prevent
the shipment proceeding further.
However, with the successful action of the Marseille dockworkers, the ship’s
departure was delayed.
The solidarity event on the Italian side was therefore postponed Saturday 6
June.
Once the ship eventually reached the Genoa port, chants demanding ‘stop
genocide!’ were heard as a demonstration of more than 300 people marched into
the port crossing.
As requested by their French colleagues, the dockers in Genoa inspected each
container to ensure that no military cargo was on the ship.
The next stop was scheduled for Sunday 8 in Salerno, Italy, where demonstrations
in solidarity with Palestine were expected to continue. In fact, the Contship
Era decided to change course, heading for Sicily.
This event does not come out of the blue. In 2023, the Genoa Port Workers’
Collective had already launched an international mobilisation against the
shipment of arms to war zones under the slogan ‘lower the guns, raise the
wages’. Earlier this year, after the Greek national strike that opposed both the
conservative government and European austerity policies, the International
Coordination of Dockworkers was founded. On that occasion, workers in 54 cities
of other countries joined in solidarity with the Greek strike, paving the way
for wider collaboration. Today, workers’ organisations from Greece, Turkey,
Morocco, France and Italy are currently members. The lever that drove this
alliance is the desire to jam the war machine by targeting the ports that keep
it moving.
Earlier still, in 2019 and 2020, the harbours of Genoa had refused to load war
shipments on the Saudi ‘Bahri’ fleet bound for Yemen, inspiring similar blocks
in other ports across Europe like: Marseille, Le Havre (Normandy) and Bilbao
(Basques).
The Genoa Port Workers’ Collective are also trying to put pressure on the
institutions by appealing to law 185/90, which prohibits the transit of
armaments to theatres of war. Additionally, dockworkers have raised issues
regarding non-compliance with safety regulations concerning the docking and
mooring of ships loaded with weapons and explosives.
The first major stance against the genocide in Gaza was organised by Moroccan
dockers in Casablanca, preventing the loading of F-35 components on a ship
headed to Haifa.
These partial successes give positive energy and hope in difficult times of war
and repression. The logistics sector once again proves to be a focal point for
capital; it has itself been developed to supply the armies more effectively. For
this movement to be truly effective, all logistics actors must continue to use
their structural leverage to enforce a generalised embargo.
The post Dockers successfully block arms shipment to Israel appeared first on
Freedom News.