Dockworkers and activists block ports across the world in protest against war, genocide and the arms trade

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Strike organisers the No Harbour for Genocide campaign, alongside dockworkers’ unions in France, Italy, Greece, Spain, Turkey, Morocco and Cyprus, described today’s events as the largest co-ordinated port action ever held.

“For one day, 52,000 containers stand idle, carrying $2.8 billion (£2bn) worth of goods, before the next day’s backlog, the work stoppages and the general strike in Italy are counted,” No Harbour for Genocide campaign said in an Instagram post today.

“Ports handling about 64 per cent of the Mediterranean’s container traffic are shut, among them Tangier, Piraeus, Gioia Tauro and Genoa, the hubs where the biggest ships unload for the rest of the sea. Together the ports taking action handle 13.5 per cent of global shipping.”

Twenty-four-hour strikes were held in France, Italy, Greece and Turkey, and work stoppages were staged in Morocco, Cyprus and other countries.

Protests held in Italy coincided with a nationwide general strike against the rising costs of living, poor wages and high military spending.

In Belfast, activists blocked the entrance to the city’s port, preventing lorries from entering.

In a statement posted to social media, the activists said: “Belfast is a key war hub for the British government, as it ramps up spending on mass murder, rather than the services that sustain life.

“French death merchant Thales has boasted of its Belfast factory quadrupling production of missiles. Numerous firms in the north of Ireland are still implicated in the F-35 warplane programme.

“Many of these armaments likely flow out through Belfast’s docks, before being used to slaughter innocent civilians.”

The Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions (BDS) Movement said in a statement today: “The Dockworker Unions’ Day of Action is a historic and unprecedented disruption of genocidal Israel’s supply chain.

“The global BDS movement salutes the dockworkers unions for their meaningful solidarity with Palestinians.

“We call on workers, unions and grassroots and civil society organisations to join and support the mobilisations, under the leadership and guidance of dockworker unions.”

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