US warship heading to 'Israel' stopped by protesters in California
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Photos and footage show protesters chanting, “Palestine will live forever,” which comes after demonstrators flocked to the city's streets with coordinators of the Arab Resource Organizing Center (AROC) and the Palestinian Youth Movement.
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Pro-Palestine protesters in California try to stop a US warship from leaving the San Fransisco dock on March 29, 2024. (X/Commendable99)
Around 800 pro-Palestine protesters stormed a San Fransisco port and chained themselves to US warship USNS Harvey Milk, to block it from supplying the weapons and military equipment on board to "Israel".
Photos and footage circulated on social media showing protesters chanting, “Palestine will live forever,” which comes after demonstrators flocked to the city's streets with coordinators of the Arab Resource Organizing Center (AROC) and the Palestinian Youth Movement.
They chanted “Free, Free Palestine,” and urged for both an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the end to funding "Israel's" genocide campaign through weapons.
San Francisco protesters blocked the entrance to USNS Harvey Milk - a pinkwashed warship heading to Gaza to provide more military support to Israel.
— Johann Spischak (@SDGMasterglass) March 30, 2024
Before leaving the dock, the warship planned to host a "ceremony" with Rep Nancy Pelosi in attendance, but protestors shut the… pic.twitter.com/qgA5fqBpa7
'Majority of world opposed to war in Gaza'
In a news release, Lara Kiswani, AROC’s executive director, said, “It is outrageous and unacceptable that our government continues to fund and supply the Israeli military as it carries out genocide against the people of Gaza.”
According to local reports, police arrested 14 protesters while a media event by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was canceled.
Read more: Majority of Americans disapprove of Israeli aggression on Gaza: Gallup
“The clear majority of people in the country–and across the world–are opposed to Israel’s war in Palestine,” Kiswani added, noting: “Rather than celebrate this vessel’s participation in Israel's violations of human rights and international law, Rep. Pelosi needs to represent her constituents and join the call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire now.”
🇺🇸⚡🇵🇸 Palestine supporters in San Francisco are demonstrating to halt the progress of a warship.
— Commendable 🇵🇸🇾🇪🇸🇾🇮🇶🇱🇧🇮🇷 (@Commendable99) March 30, 2024
Face Of Solidarity 🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸 pic.twitter.com/v3cTPH13WQ
New military aid to 'Israel'
The rally came days after it was reported that US President Joe Biden authorized billions of dollars to be given to "Israel".
The Washington Post reported, citing Pentagon and State Department officials: "President Biden has in recent days authorized the transfer of billions of dollars in bombs and warplanes to Israel, although Washington expresses concern about a possible military attack on Rafah, south of Gaza”.
“The provision of new military aid to Israel shows that even though there is a divergence of views between the United States and Israel on the continuation of the war in Gaza, the Biden administration nevertheless does not associate military aid to Israel to the actions of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu,” it continued.
A similar incident took place back in November in Oakland, California when pro-Palestine protesters stopped a ship docked at the Port of Oakland from leaving with weapons supplies for “Israel”.
Social media videos have circulated showing some of the protesters physically putting their bodies on the ladder of the ship to stop it from undocking.
The San Francisco-based Arab Resource Organizing Center organized the protest as well.
