Pro-Palestinian Protesters Blockade Tacoma Port to Delay Ship Headed to Israel (Update)

(Port of Tacoma via AP)

A pro-Palestinian protest group numbering between 100 and 300 gathered this morning at the Port of Tacoma in an attempt to prevent the loading and departure of a US military vessel believed to be heading for Israel.

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They’re picketing at Terminal 7, where they have blocked gates and lanes of traffic.

They’re trying to delay the US military supply ship Cape Orlando that’s bound for Israel.

“Confidential sources say that the vessel will be loaded with weapons and military equipment in Tacoma, with a final destination in Israel,” a news release from the Arab Resource & Organizing Center (AROC) said.

This is phase two of a protest that started a couple days ago in Oakland. That’s where the Cape Orlando left from. Protesters showed up there and at least three of them were able to cling to a rope ladder which prevented the ship from leaving for several hours. Eventually those three protesters were arrested and the ship departed for Tacoma.

Protesters should not have been able to get inside the port, onto the dock and nearly onto the ship. This looks like a pretty big security failure by someone.

Coming back to this morning, the ship was scheduled to dock in Tacoma for loading before setting off for Israel. It appears the protesters weren’t able to get to the ship itself this time so they are settling for trying to prevent union dockworkers from getting inside to load it.

Protesters are using their cars to block the entrance to a pier in an attempt to stop workers from being able to load the ship.

Tacoma police are on scene behind a fence at the terminal. The protest has been peaceful so far, with participants chanting, “Ceasefire now” and “Free Palestine.”

Here’s what the protest looked like early this morning.

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Again, the cops were ready this time so they couldn’t get inside the port. All they could do was try to block workers from getting in.

It appears the boat has arrived.

Several hours later they are still marching and preventing trucks and workers from getting through.

The protest organizers claim that someone working on the ship itself has refused to continue working because of the cargo/destination. No idea if this is true but the crew are made up of civilians so I guess it’s possible.

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The latest word is that the numbers of protesters are dropping as the day drags on. My guess is many of these protesters are not used to being awake at 5 am and have gone home for a nap.

Is there a tow-truck anywhere in Tacoma? Seems like this could be solved pretty quickly.

This is obviously an ongoing story so we’ll have to wait and see what happens next. I’ll try to update this if there are any significant developments this afternoon.

Update: Nothing terribly dramatic so far but word has gone out that the numbers at the protest are falling a bit low.

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Also, these protesters are exactly who you would expect them to be in the PNW.

There are small boats out there though I doubt they are doing much at the moment.

That’s all for now but I’m keeping an eye on it.

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