Swedish dockers block Israeli cargo in Gaza protest

Middle East Online, June 23, 2010 Swedish solidarity with Freedom Flotilla victims Dock workers union launches week-long blockade of cargo to and from Israel to protest raid on aid flotilla. STOCKHOLM – The Swedish Dock Workers Union on Wednesday launched a week-long blockade of cargo to and from Israel to protest the Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla last month, a union representative said. The blockade, which also applies to Israeli ships, was launched “because of the assault on the Ship to Gaza (flotilla), that we supported before they took off … and the blockade of the Gaza strip, which affects the civilian population,” union spokesman Rolf Axelsson said. The dock workers’ protest was to take place in all unionised Swedish ports, and ends at midnight (2200 GMT) on June 29. Union chairman Bjoern A. Borg added the union called for an international investigation into the May 31 raid that killed nine pro-Palestinian activists. He said the dock workers believed Israel’s easing of its Gaza blockade, announced on Sunday, was insufficient. Eleven Swedes, including crime writer Henning Mankell, took part in the flotilla and were briefly taken into Israeli custody.

Tags: dock workers' protest, Israeli attack on aid ship, Israeli cargo, Swedish workers