At the 2025 Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival (18-20 July) in Dorset, England—the UK’s largest annual gathering of trade unionists and activists—MENA Solidarity campaigned in support of Greek dockworkers taking a stand against Israel’s war machine. The campaign drew widespread support by trade unionists and activists from across the country. Union general secretaries and grassroots organisers alike held signs backing the Greek dockers and others taking similar action, demonstrating the rising tide of international worker-led solidarity against war and occupation.

As Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza continues, dockworkers across multiple countries are taking direct, coordinated action to block the flow of weapons and war materials destined for the Israeli military. These acts of resistance are not just symbolic; they are disrupting the machinery of genocide and ethnic cleansing by blockading ports and halting shipments that fuel the slaughter.

On 16 July, 2025, dockworkers in Piraeus, Greece became the latest frontline of this growing resistance. Backed by Palestine solidarity activists and local trade unionists, they successfully blocked the transfer of military-grade steel destined for Israeli arms factories. The action followed a mass mobilisation called by the ENEDEP union on 14 July, where hundreds gathered to stop the unloading of war cargo from the Ever Golden. The shipment was scheduled for reloading onto the Cosco Pisces, but the dockers held firm—vowing to unload all containers except those carrying weapons.

This is not the first time ENEDEP has taken such action. In October 2023, they blocked 21 tons of ammunition from being shipped to Israel. In June 2024, they stopped the MSC Altair from transporting weapons components.

However, the Greek workers are not alone in their efforts.

In France, dockworkers in Marseille-Fos refused to load 19 pallets of machine-gun parts and cannon barrels bound for Israel on June 4, 2024. Their action, supported by the CGT union and broader anti-war movements, forced the ZIM-operated vessel to sail without its cargo. Sophie Binet, CGT’s general secretary, echoed their call for a national arms embargo on Israel.

In Italy, dockworkers in Genoa, supported by USB, picketed to stop a ZIM ship carrying arms to Israel in June 2024. Protests were also organised at the ports of Salerno and Scilla against military shipments.

In Koper, Slovenia, campaigners demanded in May 2024 that authorities stop arms shipments after the Borkum, suspected of carrying explosives to Israel, was rerouted due to protests in Cartagena, Spain.

On April 14, 2024, the UMT-affiliated Union of Port Workers in Casablanca, Morocco, called for a boycott of the Nexoe Maersk. The union urged all workers and companies to refuse cooperation with the vessel, which was suspected of transporting military equipment to Israel.

In December 2023, members of the Swedish Dockworkers Union (SDU) voted by a 68% majority to launch a six-day boycott of all military cargo to and from Israel in response to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. This blockade began on February 4, 2024, and lasted for six days.

In Barcelona, Spain, in November 2023, 1,200 dockers from OEPB refused to handle any war materials for Israel, demanding a ceasefire and defending human rights.

In the United States, activists blocked the MV Cape Orlando in both Tacoma and Oakland in November 2023, delaying U.S. military equipment headed for Israel.

In October 2023, in Ghent and Zeebrugge, Belgium, dockworkers also refused to handle military shipments destined for Israel.

These actions are not only morally significant; they are materially effective. The arms trade relies on workers to function. When dockworkers walk out or refuse to load, shipments stall, production delays occur, and the supply chain breaks.

This surge of worker-led resistance lays bare the deep and deliberate complicity of Western imperialist powers. The UK, U.S., and EU actively fan the flames of imperial genocide—arming Israel to the teeth while shielding it from justice. These governments criminalise protest, suppress dissent, and demonise resistance, all to defend a system that funnels billions into the war machines of arms dealers and the Zionist regime, which wages war across borders and drives the world ever closer to catastrophic conflict.

Our resistance must not stop at the docks; it must sweep through arms factories, supply chains, and every workplace that supports Israel’s murderous apartheid regime, whether directly or indirectly.

Resources:

• Download our (Greek dockers leaflet) and a poster for a solidarity picture (Port workers solidarity sign).