The Oakland People’s Arms Embargo Coalition — or OPAE — protested at Oakland airport this morning to demand an end to all military shipments to Israel.
According to a report from the Palestinian Youth Movement, 280 military cargo shipments have flown from the Oakland Airport to Israel this year on FedEx Express flights. They say this makes OAK a major shipping hub “in the U.S. military supply chain for Israel.”
The OPAE Coalition is urging local officials to implement an arms embargo on Israel as their attacks on Gaza continue.
“This has been concealed for far too long.”
That’s Nida Liftawya. They’re from the Arab Resource and Organizing Center, a local grassroots organization that is part of the OPAE Coalition
“We cannot wait any longer; the time is right now to do what is right.”
An official from OAK told KALW that the airport is “legally required to accommodate federally authorized air traffic, including air cargo arranged by the U.S. government and/or private air cargo providers, including FedEx.
FedEx is the largest air cargo carrier operating at the airport. All of FedEx's flight and loading operations are carried out by FedEx employees directly in areas that FedEx exclusively controls.
Due to federal laws and FAA regulations OAK does not control access to cargo manifests or the shipping activity of its carriers.”
