Pro-Palestinian activists in Oakland are building momentum and hoping to set a precedent for the rest of the US with an arms embargo campaign at the city’s international airport, where key military cargo is being shipped to Israel.
Demonstrations, led by the PYM and supported by a coalition of labour and social justice activists, are taking place in Oakland this week, with one at the airport on Wednesday and another at the port on Thursday.
This follows a unanimous vote by the Alameda Labour Council, representing around 135,000 workers, to endorse the Oakland People’s Arms Embargo campaign, making it the largest labour body to support ending military cargo shipments from the Oakland airport to Israel.
"We have built a really broad coalition for the Oakland People’s Arms Embargo," Voulette Mansour, an Oakland-based member of PYM. “The coalition connects people through different struggles.”
So far, PYM have received more than 150 local endorsements and the support of around 50 businesses. They’re still seeking support from local politicians, including Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee, who has said she is looking into the matter.
Following a demonstration at the Oakland airport in September, the mayor’s office told local news outlet KQED, "Mayor Lee values Oaklanders' voices when residents speak to global issues locally. Our office has asked the Port to verify the facts on this and to get back to the office with details."
A report by PYM published in August noted that the airport is second only to Dallas-Fort Worth for such shipments, and could soon surpass the Texas hub if a new warehouse is approved.
The 15-page report, based on human rights investigations and on data exports, has found that since January, at least 280 military cargo shipments via FedEx have departed from Oakland International Airport, with Nevatim Airbase in Israel as the final destination. These shipments, supplied by Lockheed Martin, have included F-35 fighter jet components for carrying and releasing munitions and guided weapons.
More specifically, the report found that the shipments were consistently frequent (with only one week of a lull in transfers in six months); the materials delivered are wide-ranging, from lethal systems to small bolts; Nevatim is identified as the final destination for the materials; the shipments are coming from the Defence Logistics Agency in San Joaquín; and F-35s are confirmed to be used by Israel in Gaza.
"Hundreds of military cargo shipments have left OAK to Israel since January. Oakland officials, including our Port Commissioners, have the authority to heed the call of workers who do not consent to facilitate genocide through our civilian airport," said PYM member Aisha Nizar in a public statement. "They have the obligation to ensure that the city of Oakland continues to uphold our legacy of human rights and solidarity, not genocide."
Activists hope that, with Oakland's long history of social justice movements, the city could set a precedent for arms embargoes in other parts of the country.
Oakland was one of the first US cities to pass a ceasefire resolution for Israel's genocidal war on Gaza in November 2023, with unanimous votes in the city council. In December 2023, the area's then-congressional representative Barbara Lee was one of the few lawmakers to call for an unconditional ceasefire in Gaza.
"That's why we're seeing this campaign as so central. We have the opportunity to set a precedent for the rest of the country," said Mansour. "We're about to raise the ceiling of our struggle, that an arms embargo is possible."
Though a ceasefire in Gaza was reached earlier this month, Israel continues to bomb and kill civilians in the enclave as well as the occupied West Bank and neighbouring countries, including a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon this week.