War on Gaza: Australian police attack pro-Palestine protests blockading Israeli ships
Pro-Palestine protesters who gathered at Australia’s Port of Melbourne faced pepper spray and kettling as they demanded a ceasefire in Gaza and attempted to block Israeli ships from unloading.
The activists gathered at the port on Monday for a fourth day, after successfully blocking a major freight terminal and causing hundreds of thousands of dollars of losses to shipping companies and the Australian economy.
So far, the direct action has resulted in four cargo ships being stranded along with 30,000 containers.
Mohammed Helmy, one of the protest organisers, told Middle East Eye that there was a heavy police crackdown on Monday.
“At around 4pm police arrived, there were over 150 officers from different forces, including riot police and Viper force which is a force normally used for organised crime gangs,” he said.
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He added that some of the police were on horseback, which prompted the protesters to call for more people to join them, with the number eventually swelling to 300.
Helmy said that as the protest grew, the police used the kettling technique to control the crowd, containing protesters in a confined space by surrounding them. At least 10 people were arrested at the site, he said.
Ships blocked
In addition to dispersing the protesters, the police also blocked one of the main streets and gave people little to no chance to gather their belongings.
The protests have attracted widespread attention, and since the start of their action, not a single loading crane has moved in the port.
'There were over 150 officers from different forces, including riot police and Viper force which is a force normally used for organised crime gangs'
- Mohammed Helmy, protest organiser
Helmy believes the heavy-handed crackdown was as a result of increased pressure from the CEO of the Port of Melbourne, particularly as the number of ships being held in Port Phillip bay increased to five, causing huge financial losses.
Some of the protesters had come to the area with chairs, sleeping bags, food and medical kits.
“Legal observers from the Melbourne Activist Legal Support reported a case of a nurse being sprayed while attending to a sprayed person on the ground; they also reported a person in a wheelchair being manhandled and removed from his chair. He was then ordered to move while on the ground and pepper spray was used multiple times,” Helmy explained.
Helmy said that the main purpose behind the protest was to disrupt the activities of Zim, an Israeli-owned shipping company, and to “stop the genocide in Gaza”.
“We felt that the crackdown was aggressive and over-powering and did not respect the humanitarian cause of the action,” he said.
Undeterred
Despite the heavy crackdown, Helmy said that both he and the other protesters were all undeterred and would continue with the blockade.
"We are proud that Melbournians carry enough compassion to take action against a genocide. Melbourne has had continuous actions for the past 105 days including a mass rally every Saturday in the city.
"On some days, there could be up to three or four separate actions on the same day against the genocide," he explained.
"We have vowed to continue until the genocide stops."
The protests at the Port of Melbourne came after Helmy and other protesters felt that not enough was being done despite their continued protests and rallies to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The blockade was therefore aimed at inflicting losses on Zim and sending a direct global message by garnering attention.
“National media rarely if at all pay any attention to the tens of thousands of people rallying. This made heads turn. It is a direct disruptive action aimed at a company that directly supports the genocide,” he said.
Australia's Palestine Advocacy Network president, Nasser Mashni, echoed the sentiment and said that the decision to create a blockade and demonstrate came after months of peaceful protests that seemed to have "fallen on deaf ears", as Israel's bombardment of Gaza continued, killing over 25,000 people, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The protesters on Sunday prevented workers from getting to their jobs at the port, and some of them have held up banners with the words "block Zim ships".
The protests have been largely peaceful, with people playing music, reading or sitting on chairs at the site.
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