On Saturday 15 June, the Union of Workers at the Port of Piraeus (ENEDEP) mobilised to stop the Israel-bound container ship MSC ALTAIR from docking at the Greek port. The vessel was carrying war materials, destined to rain destruction on Gaza. Thanks to the blockade staying strong, the ship was forced to reroute towards Italy, landing a blow on Israel’s war machine that sets an example to workers of the world!
We first and foremost applaud these workers for their resolute stand against the imperialist slaughter taking place in Gaza, defying the official campaign of slander and calumny against those offering solidarity to Palestine.
The Greek state has been more than happy to crack down on those standing up to the ruling class’ support of Israel, as seen by the attempted deportation of nine European nationals who took part in a pro-Palestine protest at the University of Athens School of Law in May.
However, these dockers have shown that they will not be intimidated, and are prepared to use the power held by working people to frustrate the bloody crimes of imperialism.
A rotten “friendship”
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu last October that he came to Tel Aviv “not just as an ally but as a true friend”. This nauseating affair was not just for show. While the Greek ruling class naturally lines up with the rest of Western imperialism to defend a key ally, Greece has particular economic and political interests bound up in Israel.
Greece wants to continue with the planned €6bn EastMed gas pipeline, which would transport gas reserves from the Levantine Basin near Cyprus and Israel into Greece and other south European countries. This 1,900km pipeline would be capable of carrying over 9 billion cubic metres of natural gas, which corresponds to around 10 percent of Europe’s supply.
Although the feasibility of the pipeline is up in the air, with the US pulling support in 2022, Netanyahu stated that he saw the EastMed alliance as being “of enormous importance to the state of Israel’s energy future and its development into an energy power”. Ironically, Mitsotakis said that the pipeline would contribute to regional peace. This reads like a sick joke with tens of thousands dead, and hundreds of thousands displaced in Palestine.
Not a penny, bolt or bullet for the war on Gaza
The best way for workers around the world to support the Palestinian people is to cripple the industries feeding Israel’s genocidal war / Image: own work
The backroom deals and dirty diplomacy of the imperialists are all that these politicians care about. We must continue to support, organise and spread all actions by the international working class to undermine the massacre in Gaza.
The Greek dockers, like their counterparts in India and elsewhere, have shown the way forward. The best way for workers around the world to support the Palestinian people is to cripple the industries feeding Israel’s genocidal war.
If dockworkers in all countries refused to service and facilitate ships carrying arms bound for Israel, then they could stop not just one container ship, but entire fleets! Or if tech workers abroad pulled the plug on the software and hardware being used in Israel’s drones and missiles, then the shower of death routinely rained on Rafah could be stopped.
And ultimately, if the mass organisations of the working class collectively declared ‘no more!’ and prepared a campaign of general strikes in solidarity with Palestine, they could bring all society to a standstill.
They could paralyse the imperialist regimes that are funding and facilitating Israel’s criminal war, and challenge the capitalists for power: laying the basis for dismantling the rotten system that is the ultimate source of Palestine’s plight.
In Greece, we have glimpsed the real power of the working class!
This is the way forward: not a penny, not a bolt, not a bullet for the Israeli war machine! And injury to one is an injury to all! Free Palestine! Down with imperialism!