Black Agenda Report
Black Agenda Report
News, commentary and analysis from the black left.

  • Home
  • Africa
  • African America
  • Education
  • Environment
  • International
  • Media and Culture
  • Political Economy
  • Radio
  • US Politics
  • War and Empire

Italy Paralyzed as Anti-Genocide Protesters Take the Streets
The Cradle News Desk
24 Sep 2025
🖨️ Print Article
Protest
(Photo credit: Matteo Ciambelli/Reuters)

Walkouts in over 60 cities disrupted trains, ports, and schools to protest Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

Originally published in The Cradle.

Workers across Italy launched a nationwide strike on 22 September to oppose Israel’s genocide in Gaza, halting public transport, rail services, schools, public offices, and ports in more than 60 cities.

Italian grassroots trade union, Unione Sindacale di Base (USB), called the strike to force Rome to “immediately break off relations with the terrorist state of Israel, which is the concrete way in which Italy can, and must, react to the genocide that is taking place.”

Rail freight was suspended on Sunday night, with ports including Ravenna, Livorno, Trieste, and Genoa joining the actions.

In Genoa, dockworkers blocked a vessel scheduled for Israel, while in Livorno, access to the port was restricted by protesters.

In Rome, several regional trains were canceled and others delayed for more than an hour, while in Milan, the city’s M4 metro line was shut down. 

Students in Bologna occupied university lecture halls under the banner of the Cambiare Rotta group. Demonstrators also marched through Milan in heavy rain to demand a ceasefire and express support for the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla.

USB said protests were taking place in 81 locations across Italy, declaring, “For a free Palestine from the river to the sea, we will shout in every square.”

UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese voiced support for the strikes, writing on X, “In Italy, the general strike has shut down train lines, ports, highways, schools & shops. With a genocide ongoing, there can be NO business as usual. Stay peaceful, everyone. Do not react to any provocation. Freedom for all allows no mistakes.”

Protest organizers said more than 200 lawyers had issued an appeal to end Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani recently told the Senate that Rome was prepared to consider EU trade sanctions against Israel, including measures targeting Israeli ministers over what he called “unacceptable” policies in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, on 17 September, threatened retaliation against EU member states if the European Commission moves forward with proposed sanctions on Israel.

Italy
Palestine
General Strike
protest
Genocide
Israel

Do you need and appreciate Black Agenda Report articles? Please click on the DONATE icon, and help us out, if you can.


Related Stories

Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
Standing with Iran
25 February 2026
The task of the left, of all anti-imperialists, is to oppose U.S. aggression around the world.
Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
The World Does Need to Stop Singling Out Israel… By Holding it Accountable
25 February 2026
Israel has been singled out for immunity rather than accountability, exposing the "rules-based order" as a farce.
Murtaza Hussain , Ryan Grim
Epstein Flipped Israel’s Gaza-Tested Biometric Scanners Into Nigeria Ports Deal for UAE
25 February 2026
Former Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak used the Boko Haram threat to pilot Israeli facial recognition scanning in Nigeria, while Jeffrey Ep
​​​​​​​ Ajamu Baraka, BAR editor and columnist
The Anti-Imperialist Imperative: Confronting Globalized Fascism
18 February 2026
Ajamu Baraka, BAR Editor and Columnist, gave this presentation at the U.S. Peace Council Webinar on Iran.
Michael Leonardi
Cyclone Harry’s Mediterranean Massacre: At Least 1,000 Migrants Lost at Sea, Fortress Europe’s Deadly Legacy
18 February 2026
The Mediterranean is now the planet's deadliest migration corridor.
Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
How Israel Controls the West
11 February 2026
The state of Israel is reviled by most people in the world as a genocidal, war criminal nation.
Sally Nasser
Organ Theft, Neo-Cannibalism and Israel’s Trade in Palestinian Death
11 February 2026
Missing organs from Palestinian bodies and a history of organ harvesting without consent make Israel's supposed organ donation record very susp
Jody McIntyre
Morgan McSweeney: the Man Running Britain and His Ties to Israel
11 February 2026
Morgan McSweeney is an unelected operative steering the British government.
Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement
Georges Ibrahim Abdallah: “Together, and only together, do we win.”
04 February 2026
After 41 years in French captivity, revolutionary militant Georges Ibrahim Abdallah speaks, offering an analysis of October 7th, global fascism
Al Jazeera Staff
‘If you sleep, settlers will burn your house’: fear in the West Bank
28 January 2026
The Palestinian village of Ras Ein al-Auja has held out against violent Israeli settlers – until now.

More Stories


  • Margaret Kimberley, BAR Executive Editor and Senior Columnist
    Standing with Iran
    25 Feb 2026
    The task of the left, of all anti-imperialists, is to oppose U.S. aggression around the world. A military attack against Iran is imminent and cannot be opposed on theoretical grounds. The people of…
  • Editors, The Black Agenda Review
    SPEECH: Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Munich Security Conference, February 24, 2026
    25 Feb 2026
    "A civilization that uses its principles for trickery and deceit is a dying civilization.”
  • Ann Garrison, BAR Contributing Editor
    Stand Up for Sudan
    25 Feb 2026
    The US is funding a genocide. Of course we all know that, but how many of us know about Sudan?
  • Raymond Nat Turner, BAR poet-in-residence
    Kid growing up under growing fascism
    25 Feb 2026
    "Kid growing up under growing fascism" is the latest from BAR's Poet-in-Residence.
  • Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
    The World Does Need to Stop Singling Out Israel… By Holding it Accountable
    25 Feb 2026
    Israel has been singled out for immunity rather than accountability, exposing the "rules-based order" as a farce.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us