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As boats from the Global Sumud Flotilla prepared to set sail toward Gaza from the coasts of Italy, Spain, and Tunisia, a representative of Genoa’s Dockworkers’ Union (CALP), now part of Unione Sindacale di Base, declared that if anything happened to the flotilla, workers would “block everything.”

“Our young women and men must come back without a scratch,” the worker said at the port, before the flotilla ships departed. “And all this cargo, which belongs to the people and is going to the people, must reach its destination, down to the very last box.”

So when the flotilla was attacked on the night of September 8 while in Tunisian waters, the reaction was swift: Italian labor unions, led by Unione Sindacale di Base, called for a 24-hour general strike on September 22.

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The strike call received support not only from labor unions but also from the Global Movement to Gaza – Italia; the Music for Peace organization, which had helped collect the food that placed on the flotilla for distribution in Gaza; the Palestinian Youth Movement; and other groups.

The result on September 22 was something Italy hadn’t seen in years: The general strike involved sectors from logistics to education, from medics to firefighters, from train personnel to dockworkers. It spanned more than 80 cities, blocking ports, highways, train stations, secondary schools, metro stations, universities, shops, hospitals, and public administration offices all over Italy.

I attended the protests in Bologna, where at least 50,000 people took part (and organizers estimate was closer to 100,000). Everybody was telling me, “I have never seen something like this.” The main square was surprisingly full of families, schoolkids with their teachers, elderly people, second-generation immigrants, and migrants. The flow of people proceeded peacefully to the highway to Florence, blocking the road. It was up there that the police started attacking demonstrators with water cannons and tear gas, even though some participants were minors. Eight people were arrested.

For many workers, the membership card mattered less than the struggle, and they did not hesitate to strike even if they were not members of the unions that called the strike.

In Milan, the 50,000-person demonstration went on peacefully until it reached the train station. There, police began throwing tear gas in the central station to try to disperse people.

Francesca Della Santa, a high school teacher in Milan, told Truthout:

There was enormous and truly diverse participation: teachers bringing entire classes, high school students, people of all ages. All sectors joined the strike, including freelancers — psychologists, architects, etc. — and not just unionized workers.

She also underlined how the presence of so many high school students was a sign that the younger generation refuses a future affected by genocidal violence and war.

Smaller cities were also mobilized, and despite their size, they achieved impactful results, such as in Ravenna, a seaside........

© Truthout