Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters rallied at the Port of Tacoma in Washington State on 7 October in an attempt to block a supply vessel suspected of transporting weapons and military equipment to Israel, Al-Jazeera reported.
The demonstrators expressed their belief the weaponry on board would be used by Israel in its bombing campaign of Gaza, which has killed over 10,000 Palestinians, the majority women and children, in just one month.
Israel began the campaign in response to Hamas’ 7 October surprise attack on settlements surrounding Gaza in what the resistance group called operation “Al-Aqsa Flood.”
One of the protesters, Wassim Hage, a coordinator for the Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC) advocacy group, said: “We want a ceasefire now. We want people to stop getting murdered now. We want a real examination and action on US foreign policy and US funding to Israel.”
He stated that a confidential source reported to AROC that the supply vessel contained a variety of weaponry that is set to be distributed to the Israeli army as assistance for their ground offensive of the Gaza Strip.
Al-Jazeera could not confirm whether the vessel was carrying weapons; however, the Qatar-based outlet cited Pentagon Spokesperson Jedd Jurgensen, who said that the ship was used for the “movement of US military cargo.”
Earlier this month, Amnesty International called for an arms embargo on Israel and Hamas for the sake of protecting civilians.
The protest comes after Washington announced a request to provide $106 billion in aid for Israel and Ukraine. If approved by the Congress and Senate, Israel would receive $10.6 billion in assistance through the Defense Department, in addition to $3.7 billion through the State Department for bolstering Israel’s military as well as enhancing security for the US embassy in Israel.
On 31 October, US State Secretary Anthony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee to argue that the $106 billion in aid to Israel and Ukraine would “create jobs” for US workers.