New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has repeatedly accused Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza, expressed support on Monday for an international dockworkers’ strike against arms shipments to the Jewish state.
No New York ports participated in the action.
“Dockworkers went on strike across 113 ports in 22 countries to disrupt the transport of weapons of war, in solidarity with the Palestinian people,” Mamdani wrote, sharing a link to a Reuters report on the Oct. 30 strikes.
“New Yorkers stand with them,” he stated. “When working people unite in their power, we build a better world. Dockworkers do not work for war.”
More than 25 labor unions backed Friday’s coordinated action, which included strikes and demonstrations at major shipping hubs in Europe and beyond, including Genoa, Italy; Piraeus, Greece; Valencia, Spain; and Tangier Med, Morocco.
Workers protested the use of commercial ports to transport weapons and military equipment to conflict zones, including Israel. They also called for higher wages, improved working conditions, greater protections for seafarers operating in war zones and the right to have doctors aboard vessels crossing conflict zones.
About 3,000 dockworkers and seafarers participated in a walkout at Piraeus, disrupting cargo operations and ferry services to the Greek islands, Reuters reported.
The strikes were supported by No Harbour for Genocide, an anti-Israel campaign seeking to prevent military equipment, fuel and other supplies from reaching the Jewish state.
The organization maintains what it calls a “blocklist” of vessels it identifies as transporting military supplies and energy to Israel. It urges dockworkers, port authorities and governments to deny those vessels access to ports and related services.
The group said it documented 315 shipments of components for Israeli defense manufacturer Elbit Systems passing through 56 commercial ports in 29 countries between August 2025 and September 2026.
It also estimated that the recent strikes would delay some 52,000 shipping containers carrying $2.8 billion worth of cargo. Reuters stated that it could not independently verify the estimate.
Mamdani supports the movement to boycott Israel and has previously criticized U.S. military assistance to the Jewish state.
In a statement marking the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, Mamdani accused Israel of committing war crimes and criticized what he called the federal government’s complicity in arms shipments.
On his first day in office in January, Mamdani also rescinded an executive order issued by his predecessor, Eric Adams, that barred certain city officials from making procurement and investment decisions that discriminate against Israel or Israeli citizens.
