Pro-Palestinian Demo In Italy Ricuh, Workers Block Port Access

UNSPLASH/Alex Suprun ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - Strike dock workers blocked road access to ports in Italy on Monday. Meanwhile, chaos occurred in pro-Palestinian protests in central Milan as unions staged a full-day protest against Israel's attack on Gaza.

Protested Italian dock workers said they were trying to prevent Italy from being used as a stopover for arms shipments and other supplies to Israel at war with Hamas in Gaza.

Police in riot gear and using tear gas clashed with protesters around the central station in Milan, a Reuters witness reported.

Italian media reported demonstrators were trying to stop traffic on toll roads near the city of Bologna.

In the southern city of Napoli, clashes broke out with police as protesters forced their way into the main train station. Some of them had climbed onto the tracks, causing delays in service.

Thousands of people demonstrated in other Italian cities, schools were closed, and some public transport was affected by the layoffs called for by the unions.

In Genoa, in northwestern Italy, protesters among the crowd waved the Palestinian flag during an early morning demonstration around the port.

Furthermore, on the coast, in the city of Livorno in Tuscan, the entrance to the port was blocked by demonstration workers. Similar protests also took place in Trieste, in the northeast.

"The Palestinian people continue to teach us other lessons about dignity and resistance," said Ricky, a protester in Genoa from a grassroots labor group called the Autonomous Port Workers Collective, Monday, September 22.

"We learn from them and try to do our part," he continued.

Italy's far-right government under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is an Israeli supporter in Europe and has decided not to follow in the footsteps of other Western countries by recognizing Palestinian countries.

Regional rail services to Rome have been delayed and canceled due to strikes, but subways are still operating as usual. Most of the metro lines in Milan, Italy's financial capital, are also operating.

Transport Minister Matteo Salvini excluded the impact of protests against the rail network, praising those who have gone to work.

Today's strike has only caused the cancellation of a small number of trains. The political mobilization of extreme left-wing labor unions will not harm millions of workers," he said.