May 15, 2026

The World Federation of Trade Union headquarters sent the following statement May 14, 2026, regarding the Global Sumud Flotilla in solidarity with the people of Gaza.

The Flotilla sets sail again without any institutional protection: only a general strike can defend it.

On May 18, take to the streets for Palestine, against rearmament and the complicity of the Italian government and the European Union.

And so in Marmaris, Türkiye, the 300 activists who have decided to risk their own safety to denounce Israel’s barbarity and come to the aid of the Palestinian people have set aside all reservations: The voyage to Gaza is resuming.

There has been no shortage of attempts in recent days to dissuade the activists and make them turn back. Israel tried, with the illegal arrest of Saif Abu Keshek and Thiago Ávila, the beating of many of their comrades and the disabling of several boats left adrift, with crews on board and the sea in a storm. Then various European governments tried, starting with the Greek government, which demonstrated full complicity with Tel Aviv by failing to exercise any sovereignty over waters far removed from the Israeli coast.

On May 12 the European Union made it known that the Flotilla will not enjoy any protection on its voyage to Gaza; this is nothing new, it already happened on previous occasions, but stating it explicitly has a certain impact.

The Italian government remains silent, or rather reveals itself to be pro-European, in the sense of falling in line with other countries that are failing to defend their citizens who are courageously setting out simply to uphold the rights of a people, to bring aid and to denounce the unbearable daily horror emerging from the rubble of Gaza and much of Palestine and Lebanon.

The only ones lending a hand to this group of brave souls are the people themselves, the workers, the “Gaza generation” or the “people of autumn,” whatever one chooses to call them.

The general strike serves this very purpose: to allow this world to make itself heard once more and to act as a ground crew to propel those boats forward — the boats of hope, the boats of humanity.

The strike must embody all the issues we have been raising in recent months and which have been at the heart of the sectoral strikes carried out in recent weeks, from public sector workers to dockers, from transport strikes to protests against layoffs in the logistics sector, from the school strike just a few days ago to the national strike by social cooperatives, which coincidentally falls on May 18.

Each of these protests has its own specific character, yet they all speak to a state of working life in Italy that is under constant attack in terms of rights, wages and organisational structures.

It is right that the strike on May 18 should give voice to these causes, which are once again fuelling a social conflict for which there is a great need. But this general strike also speaks to us, above all, of the desire to put a stop to barbarism and to force the Meloni government to sever ties with a terrorist state.

It is a strike to tell our brothers and sisters on the Flotilla: We are here, you are not alone, and we will do everything we can to protect you.

It is a strike to support the trampled rights of the Palestinians and to assert their sacrosanct right to live in peace on their land.

It is a strike against rearmament and the many aggressions against peoples that this rearmament supports; it is part of the constant and concrete initiatives such as the strike against arms, conscientious objection and the international mobilisations that Unione Sindacale di Base (USB — Rank-and-File Union) has been carrying out for months.

In every city and every town, it is time to prepare for a general mobilization, without fear and without hesitation.

The strike was called by the USB but belongs to all workers; it was called in full compliance with the damned current regulations, and is open to everyone.

Let us recall the events ahead of us: on May 16, the two demonstrations in Rome and Milan for Palestine to mark the anniversary of the Nakba — May 18, demonstrations in all cities to mark the general strike — May 23, a national workers’ demonstration in Rome for wages and against the war.

Updates from the streets:

Genoa: Prefecture, Largo Lanfranco 1, 10:00 a.m.

Bologna: Piazza Gaza (formerly Piazza Maggiore), 10:00 a.m.

Pisa: Piazza Gaza (formerly Piazza XX Settembre), 9:00 a.m.

Florence: Prefecture, Via Cavour 1, 10:00 a.m.

Massa: Town Hall, 9.00 a.m.

Trieste: Colle di S.Giusto, 10.00 a.m.

Rome: Piazza Gaza (formerly Piazza dei Cinquecento), 10.00 a.m.

Turin: Piazza Gaza (formerly Piazza Palazzo di Città), 9.30 a.m.

Naples: Piazza del Gesù, 10.00 a.m.

Pescara: Piazza Unione (Abruzzo Regional Government Building), 9.30 a.m.

Milan: Piazzale Loreto, 9.00 a.m.