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A deafening sound of blaring horns and port employees chanting “we don’t want you” welcomed an Israeli-owned container ship when it arrived in Livorno this week.

For two days, the striking port laborers refused to back down, refusing to handle the ship’s cargo in a act of strong support for Palestinians and the international aid convoy striving to deliver humanitarian assistance to Gaza. The protest was successful and the vessel, bound for the US and Canada, left the port.

Nationwide Harbor Actions Expand

From northern ports in the north, to southern harbors in the southern area, in the past few weeks port workers across Italy have managed in obstructing ships believed to be transporting arms for the Israeli military, as resistance to the country’s war in Gaza grows stronger.

The dockers’ determination to prevent arms shipments and stifle trade has been a crucial component of the solidarity movement in Italy as demands increases on Prime Minister Meloni’s conservative administration to adopt a firmer position against the Israeli government.

“The Israeli military is conducting an extermination of civilians in Gaza – by killing them, by depriving them of food,” said a port employee, one protester. “We must not stay silent. We have always been a port of welcome, not one of war. We will keep demonstrating until this war ends.”

National Walkout Adds Tension

On the end of the week, thousands took to the streets after Cgil called the latest nationwide walkout in less than two weeks, closing schools, stalling traffic and causing disruption on mass transit and in medical services. There were also spontaneous protests on midweek after Israeli forces stopped the aid convoy and arrested hundreds of activists, including the prominent campaigner the environmental advocate.

The incident in the Tuscan port was the first time an Israeli ship carrying commercial goods had been blocked.

Public Opinion and Political Reaction

Latest polls show significant support among Italians – including a substantial share of voters of Meloni’s ruling coalition – for the recognition of a independent Palestine and in favor of the humanitarian convoy.

Meloni has criticised the deaths caused by Israel of Palestinian people in the past few months, describing it as a “excessive” response to Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attacks, and has opened up to the country recognizing a Palestinian state, albeit with caveats. But she still attempts to maintain the delicate balance between being one of Israel’s staunchest allies in the EU and a ally of Arab nations, all the while aligning with the line of the US president, the former president.

Still, she is aware of public opinion, especially with the country in the midst of several regional elections, and has sought to exploit the protests and aid mission to criticize her leftwing opponents.

The Prime Minister has characterized the flotilla as “risky and reckless” and, despite the aid effort involving hundreds of activists from different countries, she said it was only targeted at “creating problems” for her government. Meloni took a swipe at Friday’s general strike, claiming Italians of undertaking “a long weekend masquerading as a revolution” while stating the event was organized for political reasons and offered no real benefit to the people of Gaza.

“The current administration can only survive with someone to blame,” claimed Gianfranco Francese, who heads the Livorno unit of Cgil. “There is also a great contradiction between what Meloni claims and what she implements,” he continued. “She speaks of being a devoted nationalist, a Christian and a mother, but she has not taken any political or diplomatic action to halt the killing of civilian families.”

Political Stability Despite Protests

But despite the widespread popular feeling shown through the series of pro-Palestinian protests, Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party remains ahead in polls, at around 30%, and she has headed an unusually steady Italian government since taking office in late 2022.

“From one perspective, there is the larger part of the population in solidarity with Gaza which desires an cessation to the conflict,” said Lorenzo Pregliasco, a founder of a polling firm. “But you won’t observe the impact of this when it comes to vote.”

The analyst mentioned recent regional votes in the Marche region where the governing alliance secured a second mandate. The similar result is expected in elections in other regions.

Pregliasco said there was “a real risk of the [Gaza] movement having an overly strong of a leftwing identity, which would distance individuals who are horrified with the war but who are not pro-Palestinian militants”.

Expert Insights

A political scientist at New York’s Columbia University and the University of Bologna, said the explanation why the effects of the protests were not being seen in voting was because only around fifty percent of the electorate participate in elections.

“And those who do, support conservative parties,” she said, explaining that the Prime Minister could easily leverage the unrest to weaken rivals.

She said every spontaneous movement of the public was susceptible to being penetrated by opposing groups, and suggested that this had been happening in order to “criminalise and repress” the Gaza movement.

Medical Community Participate

A cardiologist in the capital, has attended several demonstrations in the Italian capital and participated in the rally near Piazza Vittorio on Friday.

“Last night, there was an initiative held in Italy’s hospitals during which we remembered the many healthcare workers killed in the conflict zone while trying to help people,” she said. “It was a deeply emotional occasion and we will continue to mobilise. You might not see it in election surveys yet, but I think this administration is starting to be very afraid of the people.”