Police in British Columbia said protesters disrupted access to Metro Vancouver’s main container port terminal, as demonstrators called for an end to what they call “Canada’s arms trade with Israel.”
Delta Police say on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that officers in Deltaport are “working to resolve” the impact of the protest.
The police asked motorists to avoid the protest area, which coincides with the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.
The protesters say in a news release that they are students from the University of British Columbia and other members of the community.
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They say the demonstration is also targeting the CEO of Global Container Terminals who is a UBC board member, and shared photos showing a long line of trucks blocked by flag-waving protesters.
A similar protest in April disrupted operations at Deltaport for several hours.
The Port of Vancouver is Canada’s largest port, and GCT Deltaport is the country’s largest container terminal with a capacity to handle 2.4 million TEUs each year.
Israel and Hamas have been at war since October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants stormed southern Israel and killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, while kidnapping 250 others.
The Gaza Ministry of Health said that the death toll in the Gaza Strip exceeded 44,000 people. The local health authority does not differentiate between civilians and fighters in its statistics, but it said that more than half of the dead were women and children.
—With files from The Associated Press.
& Edition 2024 The Canadian Press
