For Immediate Release:
Press contact: [email protected]
Web site: A15Action.com
Instagram: @A15Actions
April 15, 2024: Protesters carried out economic blockades in over 50 cities across the world, targeting the global economy for its complicity in the genocide of Palestinian people in Gaza. These blockades were planned in Australia, Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas.
This diverse set of geographic locations and targets relfect the fact that the entire global economy is complicit in Israel’s genocidal campaign which as murdered over 30,000 people in six months.
On April 15, blockades were carried out at a number of ports on three continents, causing economic disruption to the flow of goods through the global economy:
* Athens, Greece: Multiple autonomous actions blocked all traffic to the COSCO port and other port roadways. A group called Mothers Against Genocide participated, causing a disruption to work and traffic.
* Belfast: A physical blockade disrupted traffic at Belfast Harbour, which serves a majority of trade through Northern Ireland.
* Montreal: Hundreds of protesters entered the Port of Montreal to disrupt traffic for over an hour and were met with teargas and baton beatings from the police.
* Kjipuktuk (Halifax), Nova Scotia: Over 100 people stopped traffic leading to the port that serves Zim, an Israeli shipping company, for over an hour.
* Vancouver: 100 protesters shut down GCT Deltaport, the primary container terminal for the West Coast of Canada.
* Naarm (Melbourne): Major disruption in port traffic leading to seven arrests.
In the United States, several major roadways which serve as significant economic arteries were blockaded in various cities. This includes the entrance to O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, causing major delays in air travel at the fourth largest airport in the country. The blockade ended after 2.5 hours after police arrested 40 people.
Three different major economic arteries were simultaneously blockaded in the bay area: wthe Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and both directions of the major commerce highway I-880 in Oakland. These blockades shut down the Port of Oakland by default.
Another freeway blockade was carried out on I-5 in Eugene, Oregon and protesters in Philadelphia disrupted I-76 leading to 32 arrests. Hamilton Fish Newburgh Beacon Bridge outside Beacon, New York, was blockaded as well, distrupting traffic to the 65,000 commuters and 6,052 trucks which cross I-84 daily.
Blockades of weapons manufacturers were carried out throughout the UK and the US, including Elbit Systems in Kent which supplies Israel with weapons of genocide. Boeing Manufacturing Plant 598 just outside of St. Louis, Missouri, was blockaded because it provides Israel with Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM) and other weapons.
Among other businesses that were blockaded in the US were Valero Energy in San Antonio, an Amazon facility in Maple Grove, Minnesota and a Pratt & Whitney factory in Middletown, Connecticut.
This is only a partial list of the dozens of cities across multiple continents which saw economic blockades on April 15. These actions reflect the broad opposition and anger against Israel’s genocidal campaign and the complicity of the world economy in enabling it.
Quotes:
“The situation in Gaza is unbearable. A15 is a historic and unprecedented coordination to fight back simultaneously across six continents, and new cities are joining with us everyday. The cities have agreed that if there is police repression in any location, other cities will extend their blockades in solidarity.”
—hay sha wiÿa
“We have written, called, and protested for an end to the U.S. role in the Palestinian genocide, to no avail. At this point, with all the death and destruction facilitated by the U.S., we have no choice but to disrupt this system. We are just getting started.”
—Haithem El- Zabari
“America provides the weapons for and funds Israeli occupation in Palestine. Every single one of us is made complicit by the money we pay in taxes going to fund the genocide of Palestinians. The barest minimum we could do is be conducive to the blockades and opposition to the genocide coming from Palestinians and Yemenis. We owe it to the fighters against Israeli violence, to Palestinians as a whole, and to our own humanity to do anything to end the occupation, by any means necessary.”
—Basseema Abouassaad
“We see Palestinian families being completely wiped out with no food access, diseases rising. At the same time, we see Palestinians taking care of each other, praying to god and fighting for their basic material needs. We see the resistance by the Palestinian people and by people across the world. People across multiple countries, including the U.S., are protesting and bringing awareness to the Palestinian cause. We are fed up. We cannot bare to watch this genocide continue and accept our tax dollars going into funding this war and weapons that are used to mass murder Palestinians. This is why people are ready to stop the wheels of production that fund this genocide.”
—Valentina Jadue
“We live in a racist, imperialist, genocidal, capitalist empire. We will fight back by all means necessary. We will show our rage and answer the calls of Palestinians on the ground, with a worldwide economic blockade to address the complicity of the empire. We will not be silenced and we will not be stopped.”
—Farah Al-Zaytouni
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For more information visit a15action.com
Twitter @a15action
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www.a15action.com
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A15 is a multi-city, international effort across five continents coordinating to carry out an economic blockade on April 15 in solidarity with Palestine.
Mexico City, Mexico; Bogota, Colombia; Medellín, Colombia; Seoul, South Korea; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Taipei, Taiwan; Melbourne, Australia; Johannesburg, SA; Sydney, Australia; Brisbane; Australia; Athens, Greece; Catalonia, Spain; Utrecht, Netherlands; Genoa; Italy; Brussels, Belgium; Vienna, Austria; Belfast, Ireland; Dublin, Ireland; Montreal, Canada; Halifax, Canada; Ottawa, Canada; Tallahassee, FL; Chicago, IL; Detroit, MI; Indianapolis, IN; London, UK; Leicester, UK; Long Beach, CA; Tampa, FL; Miami, FL; New York City & New Jersey; Oakland, CA; Orange County, CA; Philadelphia, PA, Phoenix, AZ; San Antonio, TX; San Diego, CA; Seattle, WA; St Louis, MO; Minneapolis-St Paul, MN; Adelaide, Australia; Canberra, Australia; Alice Springs, Australia; Houston, TX; Western MA; Portland, OR; Hobart, Australia; Castlemaine, Australia; Geelong, Australia; Darwin, Australia; Cyprus.