Detroit Says “Block the Boat”

IN SOLIDARITY WITH PALESTINE

June 17, 2021 

By Fighting Words Staff  Detroit Says “Block the Boat” – Fighting Words (fighting-words.net)

There was a demonstration on Tuesday, June 8, 2021 in Romulus, Michigan, located west of Detroit and near the Metropolitan Airport.

The location of the protest was at an office of the ZIM Shipping company, which handles Israeli cargo.

This action was in solidarity with the successful efforts by a coalition led by the Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC) in the Bay Area of California, which blocked ZIM cargo ships from docking and being unloaded at the port in Oakland. AROC, who led the successful Block the Boat campaigns, both in 2014 and currently, had called for an International Week of Action to ”Block Zim Everywhere “ and let them know that “Profiteering from Israeli Apartheid is not welcome anywhere!”

There were several organizations involved in the Detroit manifestation including the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), the United States Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), Moratorium NOW! Coalition, Yemeni Liberation Movement, Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice (MECAWI), Detroit Will Breathe (DWB), among others.

A “Block the Boat” coalition is being formed in the area to work in coordination with national and international forces. In South Africa, the Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU), an affiliate of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), also has successfully blocked ZIM Shipping from docking at the port in Durban.