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A deafening chorus of blaring horns and port employees shouting “we don’t want you” welcomed an Israeli-owned cargo vessel when it arrived in the Tuscan port city this week.

For two days, the striking port laborers refused to back down, declining to handle the vessel’s freight in a act of strong support for Palestinians and the international aid convoy striving to bring humanitarian assistance to the besieged territory. The protest was successful and the vessel, headed to the US and Canada, departed.

Countrywide Port Actions Expand

From northern ports in the north, to Salerno and Taranto in the southern area, in the past few weeks port workers throughout the country have managed in blocking ships suspected to be carrying weapons for the Israeli military, as opposition to the country’s war in the Gaza Strip grows stronger.

The dockers’ determination to block weapons and disrupt commerce has been a crucial component of the solidarity movement in the nation as demands mounts on Prime Minister Meloni’s far-right government to take a stronger stance against the Israeli government.

“Israel is carrying out an extermination of civilians in Gaza – by killing them, by starving them,” said a dockworker, Luca Simoni. “We must not stay silent. We have historically been a harbor of refuge, not one of conflict. We will keep demonstrating until this war concludes.”

General Strike Adds Pressure

On Friday, many people took to the streets after Italy’s largest trade union called the latest nationwide walkout in less than two weeks, closing schools, disrupting transport and creating delays on public transport and in medical services. There were also impromptu demonstrations on midweek after military vessels intercepted the flotilla and arrested hundreds of activists, including the well-known activist Greta Thunberg.

The event in Livorno was the first time an vessel from Israel carrying general merchandise had been prevented from docking.

Public Opinion and Political Response

Recent surveys show strong backing among the public – including a considerable portion of voters of Meloni’s ruling coalition – for the recognition of a independent Palestine and in favor of the humanitarian convoy.

Meloni has spoken against Israel’s killing of Palestinians in the past few months, casting it as a “excessive” reaction to Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attacks, and has opened up to Italy recognising a sovereign Palestine, albeit with caveats. But she still attempts to maintain the delicate balance between being one of the strongest supporters of Israel in the European Union and a ally of Arab nations, all the while following the policies of the American leader, Donald Trump.

Still, she is aware of public opinion, especially with Italy in the midst of several regional elections, and has attempted to exploit the demonstrations and aid mission to attack her leftwing opponents.

The Prime Minister has described the convoy 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 administration. Meloni criticized Friday’s general strike, claiming participants of undertaking “a long weekend disguised as a political uprising” while stating the strike was organized for political reasons and offered no real benefit to the people of Gaza.

“The Meloni government can only survive with scapegoats,” stated a union leader, who leads the local branch of the major trade union. “There is also a great contradiction between what the Prime Minister claims and what she does,” he continued. “She speaks of being a devoted nationalist, a religious person and a mother, but she has not undertaken any political or diplomatic action to halt the killing of women and children.”

Government Standing Amid Unrest

But despite the strong public sentiment shown through the series of pro-Palestinian protests, Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party remains ahead in surveys, at around 30%, and she has headed an unusually steady national administration since coming to power in October 2022.

“From one perspective, there is the larger part of the population in supporting Palestinians which wants an end to the conflict,” explained a political analyst, a founder of a polling firm. “But you don’t see the impact of this when it comes to vote.”

The analyst referred to last week’s elections in the Marche region where the governing alliance won a second mandate. The similar result is anticipated in elections in other regions.

Pregliasco said there was “a genuine danger of the [Gaza] movement having too much of a leftwing identity, which would distance people who are appalled with the violence but who are not active supporters”.

Analyst Perspectives

A political scientist at New York’s Columbia University and the University of Bologna, said the reason why the effects of the demonstrations were not being reflected in elections was because barely half of Italian voters participate in elections.

“And the ones who vote, support conservative parties,” she added, noting that the Prime Minister could easily leverage the protests to weaken rivals.

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

Healthcare Professionals Join

Susanna Romitelli in the capital, has attended several demonstrations in the Italian capital and marched in the protest near Piazza Vittorio on the strike day.

“Last night, there was an event held in medical facilities during which we remembered the thousands of medics who died in the conflict zone while providing aid,” she stated. “It was a deeply emotional occasion and we will continue to mobilise. You may not observe it in election surveys yet, but I think this government is starting to be very afraid of us.”