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Protesters at Lyttelton Port call for boycott of shipping and trade deals with Israel
Tatiana Gibbs, The Press, Christchurch, December 18, 2023
Dozens of protesters, many flying Palestinian flags held high by hands painted bright red, took to the streets around Christchurch’s Lyttelton Port to call for a boycott of New Zealand’s shipping and trade deals with Israel.
The Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa group organised the demonstration on Monday to coincide with the docking of a vessel linked to the Israeli international cargo shipping company ZIM.
“It's one of the biggest shipping boats from Israel that New Zealand is still in trade with and we are very against that because we don't want to support an apartheid state,” said protester Myrrine Karagiannis.
The group said “it doesn’t matter” whether the ships have weapons on them or not, and they are “sick of witnessing the massacre of Palestinian people on our phones while New Zealand continues to support apartheid Israel”.
The Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa group organised the protest in Lyttelton on Monday.
PETER MEECHAM / THE PRESS
Their action mirrored similar protests around the world attempting to boycott ZIM.
Other blockade protests have happened in ports in Sydney, Melbourne, Freemantle and Auckland.
Around 50 protesters attempted to block trucks from entering the main Lyttelton port gates at about 2pm on Monday, but police quickly moved the group on without any trouble.
Group members then marched through the streets of Lyttelton, chanting, “ceasefire now”, “boycott Israel” and “while you’re shopping, bombs are dropping” to members of the public outside the port town’s main shops.
Police stationed near the gates of the Lyttelton Port Company moved on dozens of protesters who attempted to block trucks from entering the main port gates.
PETER MEECHAM / THE PRESS
Palestinian and Christchurch local Rawaa El marched with the group and said New Zealand should not be trading with “a state that is built on occupation and terrorism and genocide”.
Her aunts, grandmother, uncles, and cousins remain in war-stricken Gaza and have been fleeing south. “Palestinians are affected in every other way - if they're not killed then they're being kicked out of their country,” El said.
Protesters hoped to carry out a similar operation to those in the 1980s, when maritime workers worldwide refused to unload goods from South African-based shipping companies as part of a global boycott against apartheid.
The MSC Rebecca III is loaded with cargo at the Lyttelton Port. The ship is linked to ZIM, an Israeli-owned shipping company.
PETER MEECHAM / THE PRESS
Among those in Lyttelton was Ty Wood, who said they were there to “represent ... [the people] that are horrified at the scenes coming out of Gaza,” and called the group “anti-genocide protesters”.
“You can either choose to ignore it, or I think it’s our moral duty to stand up and speak for the Palestinian people.”
ZIM no longer operates its own shipping services to New Zealand but books space on other vessels, and had booked space on the MSC Rebecca III, which arrived in Lyttelton Port on Sunday evening, a port spokesperson said.
Protesters called for a boycott of New Zealand’s shipping and trade deals with Israel.
PETER MEECHAM / THE PRESS
Port operations continued as normal despite the protest, they said, and the vessel was due to leave the port on Monday evening.
The Maritime Union of New Zealand said it supports the right of the community to take part in peaceful protests at ports and elsewhere, and backs international calls for a ceasefire in the Israel–Gaza conflict.
National secretary Craig Harrison said protests at ports are occurring throughout the world and are likely to become more common as concern mounts at the rising civilian death toll in Gaza.
“As a union we are united as workers, and support all efforts towards international solidarity, justice and peace,” he said.
- The Press
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