Durban dock workers refuse to unload Israeli vessel

The move is part of a week-long action announcing a series of protests in Durban, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Benoni
 
South African trade union giant Cosatu (The Congress of South African Trade Unions) has vowed to close South African ports to ships bearing goods from Israel - starting with a refusal to offload a vessel which was due to be docking in Durban on Sunday 8th February.
 
The move is part of a week-long action, with COSATU, the Palestine Solidarity Committee and the Young Communist League, announcing a series of protests in Durban, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Benoni.
 
According to an Israel National News report, Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Yigal Palmor commented: "If these people think that by refusing to unload ships from Israel that they are advancing peace, they need to go back to school since they are mistaken in their understanding of assessing the situation in the Middle East."
 
The South African Jewish Board of Deputies told the Daily News Cosatu's concern over the ship may have more to do with impending national elections. “Cosatu wants to show its muscle and the elections are getting closer, so it is easy to bash a foreign state," said board chairman, Zev Krengel. "It is a pity Cosatu cannot show the same solidarity with its own brothers in the African continent. More than 3,000 people in Zimbabwe have died of cholera, yet we do not see any protest about that." Krengel said boycotts would have little economic effect on Israel.