Indian port workers won't handle weapon cargoes to Israel for Gaza war

DAYS after reports emerged that Indian-manufactured drones were being shipped to Israel as the Middle Eastern nation carries out fierce military strikes in Gaza, killing several thousands of people including women and children, an Indian trade union representing workers at 11 major ports in the country refused to run shipments carrying the weapons to the Jewish state.

According to a report by The Independent, the Water Transport Workers Federation of India revealed in a statement its decision to "refuse to load or unload weaponised cargoes" from either Israel or any other nation that could handle military equipment for the Palestine war.

“We the port workers, part of labour unions would always stand against the war and killing [of] innocent people like women and children,” the statement issued by the union said.

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The union represents over 3,500 workers at 11 state-owned ports in India.

"Women and children have been blown to pieces in the war. Parents were unable to recognise their children killed in bombings that were exploding everywhere," the statement added.

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Israel has carried on with its ground invasion of the Gaza Strip after vowing to erase militant outfit Hamas after the latter conducted attacks on southern Israel on October 7 last year, killing some 1,200 Israelis besides taking hostage hundreds of civilians. Indian prime minister Narendra Modi had reiterated the country's support for Israel on more than one occasion following the attack, triggering criticism from the opposition which said New Delhi should follow a balanced policy vis-a-vis Israel and Palestine.

The Indian external affairs ministry came up with a statement soon after saying New Delhi was in favour of Israel and Palestine coexisting peacefully and resumption of direct talks towards setting up an independent and viable state of Palestine.

More than 29,000 Palestinians have lost their lives in the months-long conflict, the health ministry of Gaza on Monday (19) said. Several hundreds of innocent civilians have been left on the brink of starvation while a large part of the strip's civilian infrastructure has been turned into dust.

T Narendra Rao, general secretary of the water transport workers' federation, said in an interview with the Middle East Eye that will "boycott" handling of any vessel carrying arms or ammunition or weaponised cargo to Israel.

Currently, the action serves primarily as a symbolic gesture to demonstrate support for the Palestinians. The union's workers have not engaged in any weapons shipments to Israel since the Gaza conflict commenced.

The boycott comes after The Independent reported earlier that an apparel-manufacturing company in India decided to halt further orders to produce Israeli police uniforms on “humanitarian grounds”.

The trade union, affiliated with the World Federation of Trade Unions, a global organisation, was motivated to take the action following a recent gathering in Athens, Greece. During the meeting, several union representatives voiced solidarity with Palestinians affected by the ongoing conflict.

“We decided them that we would do our bit and not handle any weapon-laden cargo, which will go onto assist Israel to kill more women and children as we are seeing and reading every day in the news,” the union was quoted as saying by Indian news website The Wire.

It comes days after it was reported that the Israeli armed forces received 20 Indian-made Hermes 900 drones that have been used on the besieged strip.

A source at Adani Group, which runs 12 ports across several states in India, told The Wire that the drones were supplied to Tel Aviv.