Paul Larudee on Block the Boat: Truth-impaired and clueless.

 The clueless of anti-Israel agitators is a remarkable thing to behold.

In an article published in Middle East Monitor, Paul Larudee of the Free Palestine Movement displays not only an unusual denseness but a casual willingness to ignore reality. For its part, the Middle East Monitor invested no effort in fact-checking or verifying Paul's testimony

Paul Larudee in happier times. Photo from the Contra Costa times

From Middle East Monitor:

 According to Dr Paul Larudee, a co-founder of the Free Palestine movement, thousands of activists waving Palestinian flags turned out to blockade the Israeli cargo ship Ever Lasting, which pulled into a harbour in the San Francisco Bay on Saturday morning.

 The protesters intended to form a picket line to prevent work crews from unloading the ship, responding to the Palestinian General Federation Trade Union's BDS call for workers around the world to refuse to handle Israeli goods. "The Ever Lasting and its sister ship ZIM Piraeus were both due to be unloaded that day," Dr Larudee told MEMO.

"As it approached the docks, however, the Ever Lasting was ordered by the port authority to return to the entrance and moor to the side until further notice. In the meantime, the ZIM Piraeus had been treading water off the coast of Monterey since the previous evening."

In reality, the EverLasting is not an "Israeli cargo ship"  It's Hong Kong flagged and owned by a Chinese company. It does not even doesn't sail to Israel. Its not a "sister ship" to the Piraeus. Its not even a distant cousin.


The Ever Lasting sailed into Oakland harbor early Saturday morning.

and was unloaded without incident. There was not a single protester on the docks. The protest call , originally issued for 5 am, had been changed to 3pm.

Ever Lasting unload at Oakland harbor early Saturday morning

No, Paul. The 500 protesters that showed up at the Oakland docks late in the afternoon  at had no effect whatsoever on the docking or unloading of the Ever Lasting.

According to John Driscoll, of the Port of Oakland  

"Seaport operations were not impacted by the protest.  Operations scheduled for tonight and tomorrow are currently expected to proceed as planned."

And yes, Paul, he's a more trustworthy source than you. Paul Larudee's block the boat: It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

Block the Boat Interruptus: Blockade of Zim Ship at Oakland Docks Postponed

If anything, the enemies of Israel excel at self-promoting.  A proposed plan by Islamists and anarchists  to  march on the Oakland port to prevent a Zim ship  from off-loading was widely publicized,  with the San Jose  Mercury news and other media outlets picking up the story.    Zim is one of the leading carriers in the global container shipping industry, and was targeted because of its close ties with  Israel.  The Zim fleet’s illustrious history began by transporting refugees from war-torn Europe back home to the land of Israel.

This tactic was tried before in 2010, with mixed results.   The Father’s Day action in 2010 ultimately claimed to have prevented a Zim liner from off-loading, though the claim of  ‘victory” was issued well before the ship had actually docked.   Again, the mainstream media was complicit in the spread of misinformation, printing verbatim press releases issued by activists.

This years’ march on the docks, coordinated by an extremist anti-Israel group, the Arab Resource and Organizing Center ( AROC ), in conjunction with local anarchist groups and the pitiful remnants of the Occupy Oakland contingent was to take place on Saturday, Aug 2.  After an initial wave of self-congratulatory press releases, there are now wide-spread reports of cancellation. 

The coalition had failed to make inroads with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union ( ILWU)  , who were justifiably skeptical  about having their names linked  with these extremist groups.

Some anarchists groups itching for a fight  have expressed their desire to march on the docks nonetheless. Nothing like some random chaos and destruction and good old fashioned breaking and smashing in the name of peace, after all.

UPDATE:
"Block the Boat" is now scheduled for August 16, with or without union support

Labor Says Yes to Israel, No to BDS

Earlier this summer, when the anti- Israel forces inexplicably crowed "victory" over preventing a Chinese freighter in Oakland harbor from unloading, they claimed that "Labor" supported BDS against Israel. And, of course, they were wrong. While some labor union members might support some aspects of the boycott, sanctions and divestment movement , many labor members in both the leadership and the rank and file were deeply embarrassed by the claims and actions done in their name.
This letter was sent to the local Consul General of Israel, Akiva Tor, on behalf of state and local labor:


Akiva Tor
Consul General
State of Israel
San Francisco, CA

Dear Mr. Consul General

I am writing you regarding the incident that took place on June 20, 2010, in which a group of anti-Israel demonstrators picketed at the Port of Oakland resulting in members of ILWU Local 10 not unloading a Zim container vessel based on an arbitrator’s determination that the picket line present a “health and safety” risk. The vessel was unloaded the next day.

We want to make it perfectly clear to you and to the people of Israel that our union is fundamentally opposed to efforts to interfere with Israeli ships or cargoes and to the larger “boycott, divestment, and sanctions” effort being directed against Israel. We repudiate such tactics as antithetical to efforts to bring about real peace in the Middle East. We believe that the proper role of the US labor movement is to support efforts to bring about a just settlement that will enable Israel, the national homeland of the Jewish people, and a future Palestinian state to live side-by-side within safe and secure borders, free from war, terrorism, and in mutual respect and recognition.

It is our understanding that anti-Israel resolutions supporting this activity were passed in the Alameda and San Francisco Labor Councils. We wish to assure you that our union was never consulted about these actions and we repudiate them.

Moreover, we are very concerned that events such as occurred June 20 could result in the diversion of freight from the Port of Oakland to the Port of Los Angeles/Lon Beach or other ports along the Pacific Coast. We represent members who provide trucking and rail services for containerized shipping leaving the Port of Oakland and we do not believe that our members’ jobs should be placed in jeopardy because of the efforts of fringe groups to demonize Israel.

We hope what occurred at Oakland will be a one-time event that will never be repeated. We will be urging our brothers and sisters to insure that this is the case.

Marty Frates Secretary-Treasurer

cc: James Hoffa, International President, IBT
Rome Aloise, President, Teamsters Joint Council 7
Randy Cammack, President, Teamsters Joint Council 42
Art Pulaski, Exec. Secretary-Treasurer , CA Labor Federation, AFL-CIO
Bob Balgenorth, President, CA State Building and Construction Trades Council
Josie Camacho, Acting Exec. Secretary-Treasurer , Alameda Labor Council
Tim Paulson, Executive Director, San Francisco Labor Council
Bob McEllrath, International President, ILWU
Richard Mead, President, ILWU Local 10
Members, Executive Committee, Alameda Labor Council
Members, Executive Committee, San Francisco Labor Council
Omar Benjamin, Executive Director, Port of Oakland


The Lesson:
When they claim "Palestinian Civil Society " supports BDS it means them and a few hundred of their friends
When they claim "Labor" supports BDS it means them and a few hundred of their friends
When they "Jews" or "Israelis" support BDS, it is as meaningless

BDS is a fringe movement organized by doctrinaire haters, desperate for any kind of "victory" in an effort to build "momentum". But with ten years of failure behind them, sometimes this means victories need to be created- literally pulled out of the magicians hat. For the rest of us, its hard to ignore the 80 billion dollar growth in Israel's GNP since the BDS movement began.

The BDs'ers, and the entire movement to deny the Jewish people the right to self determination in their ancient homeland is based the the most fragile of lies, supported by the words of Lenin “To speak the truth is a petit-bourgeois habit. To lie, on the contrary, is often justified by the lie’s aim." Nonetheless, the rest of us will continue to speak truth to power, and we'll continue to fight the good fight.

Anti-Israel Action at the Oakland Port June 20, 2010

In a new low for Indybay, a website known for its inaccuracy and bias, attendance at an anti-Israel protest at the Oakland docks was misreported 3 times in the same article. Indybay claimed over 1,000 ,then 500 then 300 protesters in the same article. Click on the screen shot to see "independent reporting" at its personal best.
Streaming video and still shots show about 75 protesters.



Yep, folks. Its a "historic" action, indeed. Imagine getting 75 protesters out of bed early on a Sunday morning without even their morning latte.

UPDATE

The protesters are now calling for another action at 4:00 pm. Hampered not only by deficiencies in basic counting, but in rudimentary online research as well, they have only just learned that the Zim Shenzhen is delayed in getting into Oakland. When do you think they'll figure out thats its flying under a UK flag?