A Voice from the Eastern Door
A Voice from the Eastern Door
Indigenous demonstrators in canoes contributed to the delay of a U.S. military vessel thought to be carrying armaments for Israel last week.
At the Puyallup Tribe’s ancestral grounds in the Port of Tacoma, the protest got underway before daybreak. At 2:00 p.m., the demonstration turned into a water resistance movement as Native American water warriors tried to stop the boat from leaving the harbor by sailing traditional canoes across Puget Sound.
“Here existing in prayer and community on our ancestral waters, just as we always have,” wrote Suquamish water warrior Calina Lawrence, on Instagram. “To the people of Gaza, we love you from Coast Salish Territory and beyond!”
Picket banners demanding a ceasefire and an end to Israeli colonization of Palestine were scattered, among them were slogans like “Landback includes Palestine,” “Indigenous Queers for free Palestine,” and “No peace on stolen land.”
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered, effectively delaying the departure of the MV Cape Orlando, a cargo ship suspected of carrying arms to Israel, until late afternoon. The ship’s loading process was significantly hindered by the demonstrators’ strategic placement of car blockades at every entry point to the port, resulting in a full day’s delay.
The protest took place in Tacoma, a city built on land that historically belongs to the Puyallup Tribe. Various organizations, including the Arab Resource and Organizing Center (AROC), the International League of Peoples Seattle-Tacoma, Samidoun Seattle, Falastiniyat, and the Tacoma chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, collaborated in this effort.
They stood in solidarity with the Puyallup Tribe, other Coast Salish and Indigenous groups from across Turtle Island, aiming to achieve what they regarded as a significant victory for their cause, lasting over eight hours.
“The struggle for liberation, for liberated Palestine and liberated Palestinians is the same fight as the Indigenous struggle for land back and liberation,” said Ana Alvarez, a citizen of the Oglala Lakota. “From my perspective, settler colonialism, imperialism, capitalism all serve oppressors. They all oppress people of color and they’re oppressing Palestinians. They’re the same tools that were utilized to oppress Indigenous peoples here in Turtle Island.”
Alvarez was requested to take command of the major port entrance blockade as its “captain.” Alvarez stated, “I accepted because I think you can’t say no if you get called on, especially when it comes to helping your friends and family advocate for their people.”
Alvarez led the demonstrators at that entry in their shouts before the sun rose, and in remarks to the assembled throng, he explained to them why it was so crucial to stop the boat from leaving the port.
“What I’m doing is going to affect seven generations after me,” Alvarez told the crowd. “What we do now is gonna matter seven generations from now... This moment matters.”
According to Pentagon Spokesperson Jeff Jurgensen, the Pentagon was made aware of the demonstration and was coordinating with the Department of Transportation, the U.S. Coast Guard, and local law enforcement “to ensure the security and safety of military assets and personnel operating at commercial port facilities.”
Although Jurgensen admitted that the MV Cape Orlando is a cargo ship of the United States Navy transporting military supplies, he stated that he was unable to disclose the exact destination or contents of the voyage due to security concerns.
Before demonstrators came at five in the morning, a number of Tacoma police cars were parked just inside each port gate entrance with their lights on. There was a U.S. Coast Guard boat with an assault rifle strapped to its bow near a gate where demonstrators were gathering.
After forty years of violently driving Palestinians from their homes by Israeli settlers who forcefully stole Palestinian land, a practice that is ongoing by Israeli settlers. Hamas was founded as a resistance organization. In October, during a music event just outside the Gaza Strip, Hamas killed what is estimated to be at least 1,000 people and kidnapped approximately 200 more.
More than two million people live in the Gaza Strip, which has been dubbed a “open air prison” by Human Rights Watch and other organizations. The Israeli government imposes restrictions on residents’ ability to travel, work, receive an education, and even access water. Multiple human rights organizations have defined Israel as an apartheid state.
Claiming to be targeting Hamas, the Israeli government has attacked schools, hospitals, churches, and refugee camps in Gaza, a region smaller than Los Angeles, since the Hamas attack. The Israeli government is occupying Gaza, and Palestinians and those opposing it regard this as an ethnic cleansing.
Since October 7, almost 10,000 Palestinians have died, with women and children accounting for 70% of the deaths. “A graveyard for children,” according to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, is what the Gaza Strip is turning into.
Around eleven in the morning, protest leaders broke off the march to address the throngs of demonstrators and declare that Israeli forces had just bombed the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in Gaza. With trembling voice, Alvarez returned to the mic to tell the audience, “This is why we’re here. Palestinians deserve better.”
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