We Said “We Will Block Everything” and We Did: Inside Italy’s Strike for Gaza

As boats from the Global Sumud Flotilla prepared to set sail toward Gaza from the coasts of Italy, Spain, and Tunisia, a representative of Genoa’s Dockworkers’ Union (CALP), now part of Unione Sindacale di Base, declared that if anything happened to the flotilla, workers would “block everything.”

“Our young women and men must come back without a scratch,” the worker said at the port, before the flotilla ships departed. “And all this cargo, which belongs to the people and is going to the people, must reach its destination, down to the very last box.”

So when the flotilla was attacked on the night of September 8 while in Tunisian waters, the reaction was swift: Italian labor unions, led by Unione Sindacale di Base, called for a 24-hour general strike on September 22.

The strike call received support not only from labor unions but also from the Global Movement to Gaza – Italia; the Music for Peace organization, which had helped collect the food that placed on the flotilla for distribution in Gaza; the Palestinian Youth Movement; and other groups.

The result on September 22 was something Italy hadn’t seen in years: The general strike involved sectors from logistics to education, from medics to firefighters, from train personnel to dockworkers. It spanned more than 80 cities, blocking ports, highways, train stations, secondary schools, metro stations, universities, shops, hospitals, and public administration offices all over Italy.

I attended the protests in Bologna, where at least 50,000 people took part (and organizers estimate was closer to 100,000). Everybody was telling me, “I have never seen something like this.” The main square was surprisingly full of families, schoolkids with their teachers, elderly people, second-generation immigrants, and migrants. The flow of people proceeded peacefully to the highway to Florence, blocking the road. It was up there that the police started attacking demonstrators with water cannons and tear gas, even though some participants were minors. Eight people were arrested.

For many workers, the membership card mattered less than the struggle, and they did not hesitate to strike even if they were not members of the unions that called the strike.

In Milan, the 50,000-person demonstration went on peacefully until it reached the train station. There, police began throwing tear gas in the central station to try to disperse people.

Francesca Della Santa, a high school teacher in Milan, told Truthout:

There was enormous and truly diverse participation: teachers bringing entire classes, high school students, people of all ages. All sectors joined the strike, including freelancers — psychologists, architects, etc. — and not just unionized workers.

She also underlined how the presence of so many high school students was a sign that the younger generation refuses a future affected by genocidal violence and war.

Smaller cities were also mobilized, and despite their size, they achieved impactful results, such as in Ravenna, a seaside city whose port was blocked several times. Thanks to the pressure that a wide network of local groups and communities exerted on the port authorities, the Comitato Autonomo Portuale (Autonomous Port Committee) in Ravenna had already managed to block two containers of war material destined for shipment to Israel. A protest also took place in Ravenna on September 16.

Despite being a relatively small port compared to those in Genoa, Livorno, and Trieste, Ravenna was previously intended to be the venue for an Undersea Security (Undersec) Project meeting on September 16, though that meeting was cancelled earlier in the month after protests.

The project, which implements technologies for maritime and underwater security in ports, involves 22 entities from 10 European countries, as well as Israel’s Ministry of Defense, the Israeli military giant Rafael Advanced Systems, and Tel Aviv University.

As Axel Viroli and Enrico Caravita from the Autonomous Port Committee in Ravenna told Truthout, “Blocking Undersec and the containers were two big victories. But we need to see what happens in the coming days. Our comrades in Genoa have called for a general halt.”

The Autonomous Port Committee says there is growing pressure to block not only arms but also ships carrying raw materials and essential goods bound for Israel as a longer-term goal.

“Since October 7, 2023, the Italian National Authority for Export Control of Armament and Dual-Use Materials should be preventing arms shipments to non-EU countries, so arms can be blocked, but some old licences are still active,” Viroli and Caravita told Truthout. “But this legal basis does not extend to other types of shipments, only to arms. For this reason, we hope the movement can apply pressure to act at the level of trade policy against a state that daily stains itself with crimes against humanity.”

For the Autonomous Port Committee, looking at the future is pivotal, and they aim to expand the movement beyond the current emergency: “We consider ourselves anti-militarist, internationalist, non-partisan, and autonomous from unions,” Viroli and Caravita told Truthout. “The point now is to establish a durable project capable of halting the arms trade as a whole. There are and will be other wars; this committee is cross-cutting and flagless.”

Their words — together with the diversity of groups, unions, collectives, and people demonstrating in Bologna, Milan, and other cities — underscore the complexity and heterogeneity of the movement that took to the streets during the strike, and the absolute novelty of its composition, which went far beyond the capacity of organized groups and labor unions.

For many workers, the membership card mattered less than the struggle, and they did not hesitate to strike even if they were not members of the unions that called the strike. A wide and varied movement against the genocide has mobilized, and the strike offered the possibility of organizing strong opposition to government policies that prioritize military spending at the expense of welfare and the working class, while pushing a racist rhetoric that blames migrants for the problems faced by the country.

“The Global Sumud Flotilla changed the game … demanding strong, immediate intervention,” said Francesco Staccioli of Unione Sindacale di Base’s confederal executive.

Maurizio Coppola, a member of the national coordination of the Potere al Popolo Party (a party that closely cooperates with Unione Sindacale di Base), echoes this sentiment.

“Quantitatively, this definitely exceeded anything we could have imagined. The flotilla brought the issues to the forefront, making the contradictions of what is happening in our government, as well as in Palestine, emerge,” Coppola told Truthout. “So many teachers also took part — a category that, before September 22, had not joined the large-scale calls for mobilization in support of Palestine. This call and this movement have managed to break through barriers in some way.”

The urgency and desire to respond to the call to “block everything” also made people more open to forms of more radical struggle, such as station blockades and highway shutdowns.

The ruling right-wing coalition — made up of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy and the League, Vice President of the Council of Ministers Matteo Salvini’s party — referred to protesters as “criminals, hooligans, and delinquents.”

Coppola explained that the strike was also a response to this rhetoric and repressive politics. Just a few months ago, the Italian government turned the security decree proposed by Salvini into law, making blocking the street a crime punishable with jail, and still people took to the streets blocking roads — using the same tactic that is now completely criminalized. “The government tries to divert attention: It’s the four broken windows at Milan station that become the focus of attention, and not what this movement actually achieved — creating a nationwide movement with millions of people in the streets. Or again, discrediting the flotilla’s humanitarian action by saying, ‘Yes, it’s right to send humanitarian aid, but only through official channels,’” Coppola said.

In the days after the strike, a flurry of new developments continued to change conditions on the ground. On September 23, the Italian media site VD News published the news that Israel had monitored the Italian strike, publishing a dossier that listed the organizations that participated and calculated each one’s “risk level” without really explaining what that meant, but showing how closely Israel is watching every protest.

Later that evening, in an attempt to relieve pressure on the government from citizens and the opposition, Meloni tactically said Italy would recognize Palestine on the condition that hostages are released and Hamas exits Gaza. That night, the flotilla was again attacked, this time near the coast of Crete.

The next day, on September 24, protesters again filled town squares across Italy in response to the new attack on the flotilla and Meloni’s empty words. Defense Minister Guido Crosetto ostensibly sent a navy frigate to “protect Italian citizens” on the flotilla, but the move is widely seen as an attempt to control the flotilla and maintain the relations between Israel and Italy.

That same day, Si Cobas, another grassroots union, declared a general strike for October 3, and leading Italian labor union CGIL said it would go on strike if the flotilla were blocked. Unione Sindacale di Base declared it would go on strike without prior warning, and on September 25, launched a permanent mobilization, with demonstrations and sit-ins programmed to go on for days.

On September 26, President Sergio Mattarella asked the Italians on the flotilla to stop and hand over the food aid for “security reasons,” following the same path of Meloni, trying not to affect the relations with Israel; the flotilla refused. All these events are only igniting even more outrage among the people.

On October 1, as people aboard the flotilla shared news of their interception by Israel as they neared the coast of Gaza, multiple Italian unions called for another general strike to be held on October 3.

Italy’s September 22 strike and ongoing demonstrations show that a powerful global movement against the Gaza genocide is finally taking shape, spanning ages, ethnic backgrounds, and labor sectors. It is fueled by a flotilla whose participants span 44 countries as well as the increasing involvement of labor unions. The unity of the dockworkers reactivated a sense of possibility and transnational connection that had been dormant, with the dockworkers in Genoa organizing an international assembly with unions from Cyprus, France, Morocco, Spain, and other countries.

The growing movement made it clear that within the strike lies the possibility of organizing and building strength to reject genocide and war, and to resist Italian and European policies that push for stricter migration regulations and heavier cuts to welfare.

The multitude of initiatives that have sprung up everywhere gives not only hope but a tangible demonstration of people’s power. It shows that, whether by sea or by land, opposing war is possible, and that wider transnational connections are increasingly crucial for strengthening this opposition. The great challenge ahead is to maintain continuity in this mobilization and create something lasting.

Italy’s upcoming general strike on October 3 and national demonstration on October 4 will be the first steps.

This article has been edited to include updates on the flotilla’s interception and the call for an additional strike on October 3.