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A loud sound of honking vehicles and port employees chanting “we don’t want you” greeted an Israeli-owned container ship when it docked in Livorno this week.

For 48 hours, the protesting port laborers stood their ground, refusing to handle the vessel’s freight in a act of strong support for Palestinians and the international aid convoy attempting to deliver aid to Gaza. The action was a triumph and the vessel, bound for the US and Canada, departed.

Countrywide Harbor Actions Expand

From Genoa, Trieste and Ravenna in the northern region, to Salerno and Taranto in the south, in the past few weeks dock laborers across Italy have succeeded in obstructing ships believed to be transporting weapons for the Israeli military, as resistance to the country’s war in the Gaza Strip intensifies.

The workers’ resolve to block weapons and stifle trade has been a key element of the pro-Palestinian uprising in Italy as demands increases on Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government to take a stronger stance against the Israeli government.

“The Israeli military is conducting an systematic destruction of people in Gaza – by taking lives, by depriving them of food,” stated a dockworker, Luca Simoni. “We must not stay silent. We have always been a harbor of refuge, not one of war. We will keep demonstrating until this war concludes.”

General Strike Increases Pressure

On Friday, thousands demonstrated after Italy’s largest trade union organized the second general strike in under 14 days, closing schools, disrupting transport and causing disruption on public transport and in healthcare. There were also impromptu demonstrations on midweek after Israeli forces stopped the aid convoy and arrested hundreds of activists, including the prominent campaigner the environmental advocate.

The event in the Tuscan port was the initial instance an vessel from Israel transporting general merchandise had been prevented from docking.

Popular Sentiment and Government Response

Recent surveys show strong backing among Italians – including a considerable portion of supporters of Meloni’s ruling coalition – for the recognition of a Palestinian state and in support of the flotilla aid mission.

Meloni has criticised the deaths caused by Israel of Palestinians in recent months, describing it as a “disproportionate” response to the militant group’s assault, and has expressed willingness to Italy recognising a sovereign Palestine, albeit with caveats. But she continues trying to maintain the delicate balance between being one of the strongest supporters of Israel in the European Union and a friend of Arab nations, all the while following the line of the US president, the former president.

Still, she is aware of public opinion, especially with the country in the midst of several regional elections, and has sought to exploit the protests and aid mission to criticize her leftwing opponents.

The Prime Minister has described the convoy as “risky and reckless” and, despite the humanitarian mission involving hundreds of activists from various nations, she said it was only aimed at “causing difficulties” for her government. She took a swipe at Friday’s general strike, claiming participants of undertaking “a long weekend disguised as a revolution” while claiming the event was politically orchestrated and offered no real benefit to Gaza.

“The current administration can only survive with someone to blame,” claimed a union leader, who leads the Livorno unit of Cgil. “There is also a great contradiction between what the Prime Minister claims and what she does,” he continued. “She speaks of being a devoted nationalist, a Christian and a mother, but she has not undertaken any official steps to halt the massacre of civilian families.”

Political Stability Despite Unrest

But despite the strong public sentiment reflected by the wave of pro-Palestinian protests, Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party continues to lead in polls, at approximately thirty percent, and she has headed an unusually steady Italian government since taking office in late 2022.

“From one perspective, there is the majority of the population in solidarity with Palestinians which desires an cessation to the war,” explained a political analyst, a founder of a polling firm. “But you won’t observe the impact of this when it comes to vote.”

The analyst referred to last week’s elections in the Marche region where the governing alliance won a second mandate. The same outcome is anticipated in elections in Veneto and Calabria.

Pregliasco said there was “a genuine danger of the pro-Palestinian activism having too much of a leftwing identity, which would alienate individuals who are horrified with the violence but who are not pro-Palestinian militants”.

Analyst Perspectives

Nadia Urbinati at New York’s Columbia University and the University of Bologna, said the reason why the consequences of the protests were not being reflected in voting was because only around fifty percent of Italian voters participate in elections.

“And those who do, vote for the right,” she added, noting that the Prime Minister could readily leverage the protests to weaken opponents.

She said every spontaneous movement of citizens was vulnerable to being infiltrated by antagonists, and alleged that this had been occurring in order to “criminalise and repress” the Gaza movement.

Medical Professionals Participate

A cardiologist in Rome, has joined several pro-Palestine protests in the city and marched in the protest near Piazza Vittorio on the strike day.

“Recently, there was an initiative held in Italy’s hospitals during which we remembered the thousands of medics killed in the conflict zone while trying to help people,” she stated. “It was a deeply emotional occasion and we will continue to mobilise. You may not observe it in political polls yet, but I think this administration is becoming very afraid of us.”