{"id":55257,"date":"2025-09-23T10:28:17","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T18:28:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/?p=55257"},"modified":"2025-09-23T10:28:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T18:28:17","slug":"italys-unions-lead-general-strike-for-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/2025\/09\/23\/italys-unions-lead-general-strike-for-gaza\/","title":{"rendered":"Italy&#8217;s Unions Lead General Strike for Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Italian labor unions led a massive 24-hour general strike on Monday to protest Israel\u2019s ongoing genocide in <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/gaza\">Gaza<\/a>, with estimates of hundreds of thousands of demonstrators rallying in dozens of cities across Italy.<\/p>\n<p>Protesters took to squares, streets, transport hubs, ports, university campuses, and other spaces in more than 75 cities and towns, rallying under the call to \u201cBlock Everything.\u201d Places including schools, train stations, and retail stores were shut for the day.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe strike is called in response to the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip, the blockade of humanitarian aid by the Israeli army, and the threats directed against the&#8230; Global Sumud Flotilla, which has on board Italian workers and trade unionists committed to bringing food and basic necessities to the Palestinian population,\u201d explained Unione Sindacale di Base (USB), a grassroots union confederation known for its militant stance on labor and political issues.<\/p>\n<div class=\"embed-twitter\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">General strike in Italy for Palestine, here\u2019s the amazing view from the top of Termini station in Rome. The people \u2013 not the government \u2013 stand for solidarity and justice <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/9O7P8DV6tZ\">pic.twitter.com\/9O7P8DV6tZ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Matteo Pucciarelli (@il_pucciarelli) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/il_pucciarelli\/status\/1970084774174724579?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 22, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/div>\n<p>In Rome, tens of thousands of <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/palestine\">Palestine<\/a> defenders rallied at the Termini rail station, Italy\u2019s largest, with many of the demonstrators occupying the building.<\/p>\n<p>While protest activities snarled traffic in some parts of the Italian capital, many Roman motorists showed solidarity with the demonstrators by honking their horns and raising their fists into the air.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"bluesky-embed\" data-bluesky-uri=\"at:\/\/did:plc:avtgggryiqtjlg5wwsufccua\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3lzh2epz64c2w\" data-bluesky-cid=\"bafyreiftzachlyq6h6fo4ow57xfwr3s2nketg5xrlogh76evzg5o22qpje\">\n<p lang=\"en\">Watch: Pro-Gaza protesters who blocked a highway near Rome were met with visible solidarity from drivers. Regional news coverage of the paralyzed Central Station showed only people expressing support for the protest.Source: Paolo Mossetti on X (@paolomossetti)<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/did:plc:avtgggryiqtjlg5wwsufccua?ref_src=embed\">Drop Site (@dropsitenews.com)<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/did:plc:avtgggryiqtjlg5wwsufccua\/post\/3lzh2epz64c2w?ref_src=embed\">2025-09-22T18:35:27.997Z<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/embed.bsky.app\/static\/embed.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Milan saw an estimated 50,000 people turn out to locations including the central rail station, where some protesters damaged property and clashed with police, who said 10 people were arrested and 60 officers were injured.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf we don\u2019t block what <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/israel\">Israel<\/a> is doing, if we don\u2019t block trade, the distribution of weapons and everything else with Israel, we will not ever achieve anything,\u201d protester Walter Montagnoli, who is the Base Unitary Confederation\u2019s (CUB) national secretary, <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/italy-gaza-israel-strike-rallies-disruptions-ddb543962208f4ec4ac86da38c99b9f1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told<\/a> <em>The Associated Press<\/em> at a march in Milan.<\/p>\n<div class=\"embed-twitter\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"it\" dir=\"ltr\">Il TG che vorrei.<br \/>Milano <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/scioperogenerale?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#scioperogenerale<\/a> per la Palestina. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/1C9RCjbIf7\">pic.twitter.com\/1C9RCjbIf7<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Segnali di ripresa (@Brunomgiordano) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Brunomgiordano\/status\/1970186490794877140?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 22, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"rm-col-center col sm-mb-1\">\n<div class=\"widget__body clearfix sm-mt-1\">\n<div class=\"body js-expandable clearfix js-listicle-body css-listicle-body-2674017827\" data-headline=\"Italy's Unions Lead General Strike for Gaza\">\n<div class=\"body-description\" data-rm-calc-width=\"700\">\n<p>In Bologna \u2013 home to the world\u2019s oldest continuously operating university \u2013 students occupied lecture halls and thousands of demonstrators took to the streets, including the Tangenziale, the ring highway around the city, where police attacked them with water cannons and tear gas.<\/p>\n<p>Dockworkers and other demonstrators marched and blocked ports in cities including Genoa, Trieste, and Livorno.<\/p>\n<p>Thousands of protesters also blocked the main train station in Naples.<\/p>\n<p>In the Adriatic seaside resort of Termoli, hundreds of student-led Palestine defenders rallied in St. Anthony\u2019s Square and, with Mayor Nicola Balice\u2019s permission, draped a Palestinian flag from the fa\u00e7ade of City Hall.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFaced with such an important subject, the genocide in Palestine, we students&#8230; said this would be a nonpartisan demonstration because in the face of what is happening in the Gaza Strip \u2013 hospitals bombed, children killed every day \u2013 there can be no political ideology,\u201d <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ansa.it\/canale_legalita_scuola\/notizie\/2025\/09\/22\/free-palestina-studenti-in-sciopero-per-gaza-a-termoli_59378319-b24e-48ff-a7e9-fdff1322aa72.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> one Termoli protester. \u201cWe must all be united.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some participants in Monday\u2019s general strike pointed the finger at their own government.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the face of what is happening in Gaza you have to decide where you are,\u201d Italian General Confederation of Labor leader Maurizio Landini <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lastampa.it\/cronaca\/2025\/09\/19\/news\/22_settembre_sciopero_generale_gaza-15315665\/?ref=LSHHD-HT\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told<\/a> <em>La Stampa<\/em>. \u201cIf you don\u2019t tell the Israeli government that you have to stop and don\u2019t send them more weapons, but instead you keep sending them&#8230; you actually become complicit in what\u2019s happening.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While European nations including Ireland, Norway, Spain, Slovenia, the United Kingdom, Portugal, France, Luxembourg, and Denmark have <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/palestine-state-recognized\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">formally recognized<\/a> Palestine or announced their intent to do so since October 2023, Italy has given no indication that it will follow suit. More than 150 of 193 United Nations member states have recognized Palestine.<\/p>\n<p>Although increasingly critical of Israel\u2019s 718-day genocidal assault \u2013 which has left at least 241,000 Palestinians dead, wounded, or missing in Gaza \u2013 right-wing Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has been accused of complicity in genocide for actions including presiding over arms sales to the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/icc-arrest-warrant-netanyahu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wanted<\/a> by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. Meloni has <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.i24news.tv\/en\/news\/international\/europe\/artc-italy-joins-france-in-granting-immunity-to-netanyahu-rejecting-icc-arrest-warrants\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">rejected<\/a> the ICC warrants and said Netanyahu would not be arrested if he enters Italy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMeloni should listen to the voice of those who are peacefully protesting and asking her to act, rather than curling up to Washington to protect her friend, the war criminal Netanyahu,\u201d Giuseppe Conte, who leads the independent progressive Five Star Movement, <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/GiuseppeConteIT\/status\/1970201385518895236\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> Monday on social media. \u201cMeloni should take a stand with the facts against those who have slaughtered 20,000 children, rather than limiting herself to saying, \u2018I do not agree.\u2019 And she should stop running away from the debate in Parliament.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote class=\"bluesky-embed\" data-bluesky-uri=\"at:\/\/did:plc:avtgggryiqtjlg5wwsufccua\/app.bsky.feed.post\/3lzgyrkedz22z\" data-bluesky-cid=\"bafyreiejith4qlixfrxl6hdab2twruq6pj76qoksvgqd576ylkj7r5g7hi\">\n<p lang=\"en\">Source: Potere al Popolo via X (@potere_alpopolo)<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/did:plc:avtgggryiqtjlg5wwsufccua?ref_src=embed\">Drop Site (@dropsitenews.com)<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/did:plc:avtgggryiqtjlg5wwsufccua\/post\/3lzgyrkedz22z?ref_src=embed\">2025-09-22T18:06:50.797Z<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/embed.bsky.app\/static\/embed.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>In the Adriatic seaside resort of Termoli, hundreds of student-led Palestine defenders rallied in St. Anthony\u2019s Square and, with Mayor Nicola Balice\u2019s permission, draped a Palestinian flag from the fa\u00e7ade of City Hall.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFaced with such an important subject, the genocide in Palestine, we students&#8230; said this would be a nonpartisan demonstration because in the face of what is happening in the Gaza Strip \u2013 hospitals bombed, children killed every day\u2014there can be no political ideology,\u201d <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ansa.it\/canale_legalita_scuola\/notizie\/2025\/09\/22\/free-palestina-studenti-in-sciopero-per-gaza-a-termoli_59378319-b24e-48ff-a7e9-fdff1322aa72.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> one Termoli protester. \u201cWe must all be united.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some participants in Monday\u2019s general strike pointed the finger at their own government.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the face of what is happening in Gaza you have to decide where you are,\u201d Italian General Confederation of Labor leader Maurizio Landini <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lastampa.it\/cronaca\/2025\/09\/19\/news\/22_settembre_sciopero_generale_gaza-15315665\/?ref=LSHHD-HT\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told<\/a> <em>La Stampa<\/em>. \u201cIf you don\u2019t tell the Israeli government that you have to stop and don\u2019t send them more weapons, but instead you keep sending them&#8230; you actually become complicit in what\u2019s happening.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While European nations including Ireland, Norway, Spain, Slovenia, the United Kingdom, Portugal, France, Luxembourg, and Denmark have <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/palestine-state-recognized\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">formally recognized<\/a> Palestine or announced their intent to do so since October 2023, Italy has given no indication that it will follow suit. More than 150 of 193 United Nations member states have recognized Palestine.<\/p>\n<p>Although increasingly critical of Israel\u2019s 718-day genocidal assault \u2013 which has left at least 241,000 Palestinians dead, wounded, or missing in Gaza \u2013 right-wing Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has been accused of complicity in genocide for actions including presiding over arms sales to the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/icc-arrest-warrant-netanyahu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">wanted<\/a> by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. Meloni has <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/www.i24news.tv\/en\/news\/international\/europe\/artc-italy-joins-france-in-granting-immunity-to-netanyahu-rejecting-icc-arrest-warrants\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">rejected<\/a> the ICC warrants and said Netanyahu would not be arrested if he enters Italy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMeloni should listen to the voice of those who are peacefully protesting and asking her to act, rather than curling up to Washington to protect her friend, the war criminal Netanyahu,\u201d Giuseppe Conte, who leads the independent progressive Five Star Movement, <a class=\"rm-stats-tracked\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/GiuseppeConteIT\/status\/1970201385518895236\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> Monday on social media. \u201cMeloni should take a stand with the facts against those who have slaughtered 20,000 children, rather than limiting herself to saying, \u2018I do not agree.\u2019 And she should stop running away from the debate in Parliament.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Italian labor unions led a massive 24-hour general strike on Monday to protest Israel\u2019s ongoing genocide in Gaza, with estimates of hundreds of thousands of demonstrators rallying in dozens of cities across Italy. Protesters took to squares, streets, transport hubs, ports, university campuses, and other spaces in more than 75 cities and towns, rallying under [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":372,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"coauthors":[806],"class_list":["post-55257","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"meta_box":{"disable_donate_message":"0","custom_donate_message":"","subtitle":"\u201cMeloni should take a stand with the facts against those who have slaughtered 20,000 children, rather than limiting herself to saying \u2018I do not agree,\u2019\u201d said one critic of Italy\u2019s right-wing prime minister. 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