French dock workers block arms shipment to Israel
Stevedores in Fos-sur-Mer outside Marseille refused to load machine gun components destined for Israel. Their union said the move made clear its refusal to 'participate in the ongoing genocide orchestrated by the Israeli government.'
French dock workers at a southern port are blocking the shipment of military equipment bound for Israel in protest at Israeli actions against Palestinians in Gaza, their union said. The stevedores at the port in Fos-sur-Mer outside Marseille have refused to load crates of links used to assist the rapid fire of bullets aboard the cargo vessel, the CGT trade union said.
Links are small metal pieces used to connect machine gun bullets, allowing for rapid bursts of fire. There has been concern in media and among rights groups that they have likely been used against civilians in the Gaza Strip.
Christophe Claret, leader of the dock workers in the port, said they had been notified that the ship was due to be loaded on Thursday with the equipment. "We managed to identify it and set it aside," he told Agence France-Presse (AFP), emphasizing that once dockers refuse to load a shipment, no one else can do it for them. The other containers for the ship will all be loaded.
According to the union, the cargo is 19 pallets of links manufactured by the Marseille-based company Eurolinks. The CGT said the move made clear its refusal to "participate in the ongoing genocide orchestrated by the Israeli government." Leading rights groups have accused Israel of committing genocide in its military campaign, a charge vehemently rejected by the government.
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