Pro-Palestine activists demanding an end to the US-backed Israeli war in Gaza delayed a US military supply vessel for several hours in the Port of Oakland on Friday, RT reported.
According to the group the reservist vessel MV Cape Orlando was believed to be bound for Israel with weapons and gear.
Led by the San Francisco-based Arab Resource Organizing Center, the protest began early in the morning and lasted into the afternoon, with some members climbing aboard the military container carrier ship using a rope ladder.
“It’s a US military ship. It’s destined to go to Tacoma (Washington), pick up US military arms, and then take those arms to Israel,” Palestinian protester Meena Abushamala told local media, according to RT.
Pro-Palestinian protesters block military supply ship at the Port of Oakland, #US.
Protest groups say the ship was bound for #Israel pic.twitter.com/tTVn4mtgBT
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) November 4, 2023
The demonstrators were reportedly removed from the ship around 3 pm local time.
The protest group said that three members were detained by the Coast Guard, which has federal jurisdiction over the waters. The Oakland Police noted that it monitored the action, but said it denied the arrests.
Given the ongoing probe, Coast Guard spokesman Hunter Schnabel declined to offer details on the case, but said that “multiple individuals are currently under investigation” in connection to Friday’s protest.
Israel has, thus far, killed over 9,488 Palestinians in Gaza, including nearly 3,900 children and 2,500 women, and wounded more than 24,000. Palestinian Ministry of Health reports and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
Israel used at least two bombs weighing 2,000 pounds (approx. 907 kilos) in an airstrike on Tuesday on the densely-populated refugee camp of Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, the New York Times revealed on Saturday. https://t.co/GW5TlDhr9W pic.twitter.com/F0woBLb0r9
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) November 4, 2023
Despite a massive Israeli military buildup around the Gaza borders and sporadic infiltrations on the outskirts of the besieged Strip, Palestinian Resistance continues to repel Israeli attacks.
To justify its military failure, the Israeli army continues to pound civilian homes throughout the Gaza Strip with new massacres reported everywhere in the besieged enclave.
Gaza has been under a tight Israeli military siege since 2007, following a democratic election in occupied Palestine, the results of which were rejected by Tel Aviv and Washington.
(RT, PC)
