Global dockworkers strike over Gaza war; UK bans Swedish academic from attending Palestine event

New Delhi: Dockworkers across 22 countries are holding a coordinated strike on Friday, to disrupt weapons shipments to Israel and protest military support for its war on Gaza. The International Day of Action of Dockworkers and Port Workers involves more than 25 trade unions representing workers at 110 ports across five continents.

Under the slogan “Dockworkers do not work for war”, the campaign demands an end to the Gaza war and other conflicts. France, Italy, India, Greece and Turkiye have called 24-hour strikes, while Morocco, Cyprus and other locations are observing shorter stoppages. Italy’s USB trade union has also called a nationwide general strike, with organizers urging workers from other sectors, particularly in Greece, to participate.

The campaign started in early 2025 with five unions from 20 ports in five countries. After meetings in Athens and Genoa, representatives from more than 35 ports met in Istanbul in May 2026 and agreed to hold the coordinated strike on Friday.

Their demands include recognition of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, an end to US-Israeli military operations in the Middle East and against Iran, and solidarity with Cuba, Venezuela and Sudan.

No Harbour for Genocide (NHG), a collective monitoring arms shipments had tracked 315 shipments of components for Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms manufacturer, through 56 commercial ports in 29 countries between August 2025 and September 2026, Al Jazeera reported. All 56 ports are expected to participate. NHG estimates that cargo worth more than $2 billion could remain idle, noting that up to 95 per cent of Israel’s imports and exports travel by sea.

The collective identified Genoa, Livorno and Gioia Tauro in Italy, Marseille in France, Piraeus in Greece and Tangier in Morocco as ports linked to weapons shipments to Israel. Genoa, Gioia Tauro, Piraeus and Tangier are also major hubs where cargo is transferred between ships.

NHG said participating Mediterranean ports handle 63 per cent of the region’s container traffic, while ports between southern France and Piraeus account for 74 per cent of traffic along that route. All participating ports together handle 13.5 per cent of global shipping. Unions in India, Sweden, Denmark, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay and the US west coast have also pledged support.

In Greece, ENEDEP union leader Markos Bekris faces prosecution over an October 2024 protest in which workers blocked a container carrying 21 tonnes of ammunition destined for Israel. According to report, the strike continued dockworkers’ tradition of refusing to transport weapons intended to harm people.

Italian journalist and activist Linda Maggiore also reported increased weapons shipments from major Italian ports to Israel since the war began, arguing that blockades were necessary to oppose civil society’s complicity in the conflict.

UK revokes Andreas Malm’s ETA over Palestine event

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom has cancelled the electronic travel authorization (ETA) of Swedish academic and climate activist Andreas Malm, preventing him from attending a Palestine-related event in London next week.

The home office revoked his authorization on Wednesday, saying his presence was “not considered to be conducive to the public good”, according to an email seen by Al Jazeera.

Malm was due to join a panel organized by British socialist magazine Tribune alongside Huda Ammori, co-founder of Palestine Action, which is banned under UK terrorism legislation. Hala Hanina of Palestine Deep Dive was scheduled to chair the discussion.

Malm, who teaches at Lund University in Sweden, told Al Jazeera he believed the decision was linked to his planned appearance with Ammori. He said he had visited the UK regularly for decades, most recently in May, and had no warning that his ETA could be cancelled. The Office has not responded to his request for an explanation.

The department advised him to apply for a visitor visa. However, standard applications usually take three weeks to process, making it unlikely that he will receive a decision before the event.

According to report, the UK home office does not comment on individual cases but said ETA cancellations on public good grounds are based on assessments of potential risks to British society.

The decision comes amid wider criticism of the UK’s restrictions on pro-Palestine activism. Palestine Action was banned under the government of the former prime minister, Keir Starmer, last year, drawing criticism from Amnesty International and other rights groups. More than 3,850 people have been arrested for publicly supporting the group since the ban, mostly during peaceful protests.

Irish novelist Sally Rooney’s books were also withdrawn from sale in the UK this month after she publicly backed Palestine Action. She described Malm as a “brilliant and influential” intellectual and called the decision an attack on a respected climate expert.

The editor of the UK’s Tribune, Oliver Eagleton, accused the government of continuing Starmer’s approach. Gareth Dale, a reader in political economy at Brunel University London, said the decision was an attempt to restrict freedom of expression under prime minister of the United Kingdom, Andy Burnham.

Malm described the cancellation as a sign of growing authoritarianism. He questioned whether his planned appearance alongside someone associated with Palestine Action was enough reason to deny him entry.