Swedish dockworkers begin week-long boycott of Israeli cargo over flotilla raid
24 June 2010
Dockworkers at ports across Sweden have begun a week-long boycott of Israeli ships and will refuse to handle any Israeli cargo. Their union voted for a boycott in response to Israel’s raid on the Gaza-bound flotilla three weeks ago. Swedish ports handle nearly all the country's incoming goods.
"Even if goods arrive in trucks, dockworkers often have some role in handling them when they arrive in port," said Per Helgesson, the union's chief negotiator. However, officials expect the boycott to have a minimal impact on Swedish-Israeli trade, which accounts for 0.2% of the Scandinavian country's total imports and exports. Last year, Swedish exports to Israel were valued at SKR 2.5 billion (US$ 320 million) and imports amounted to some SKR 850 million, according to the Swedish Trade Council.
Union chairman Björn A. Borg told the French news agency AFP that his union had called for an international investigation into the raid, in which nine pro-Palestinian activists were killed. He added that the dockworkers believed Israel's easing of its Gaza blockade, announced on Sunday, was insufficient.
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