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

Roberta Rivolta
Western Activism and the Axis of Resistance
23 September 2026
Western pro-Palestinian activism isolates Palestine from its regional allies, depoliticizing its struggle and reinforcing colonial
Dhoruba bin-Wahad
Guardian Foray: All That's Not Real Is Camouflage
09 September 2026
An Open Letter from the American "Left" allegedly on behalf of unnamed persons said to be Iranian political prisoners has provided co
Libertad para Fergie
Free Fergie Chambers: Solidarity Is Not a Crime
09 September 2026
Fergie Chambers is an American philanthropist who was arrested on July 10 in Ibiza, Spain, by order of the Trump Administration.
Anti-Imperialist Scholars Collective
AISC Red Paper #2: The Multiple Fronts of Iranian Anti-Imperialism
26 August 2026
The Anti-Imperialist Scholars Collective (AISC) offers an analysis of the Ramadan War and the multiple fronts of Iranian anti- imperi
Ramzy Baroud
Solidarity Is Not Enough
19 August 2026
Why the world must force accountability on Gaza now.
Hedelberto López Blanch
A Shady Figure Will Preside Over Colombia
19 August 2026
Colombia's new president has ties to paramilitaries and drug traffickers, but Trump's endorsement swept his crimes aside as he embraces Washing
Natalia Junquera , Elena Reina
Fergie Chambers, the Millionaire Activist Arrested in Ibiza: “I am a human rights advocate”
19 August 2026
The American's lawyers, led by Baltasar Garzón, denounce a "political persecution" by Trump for his support of Palestine.
x
Craig Mokhiber
No, Israel does not have ‘a right to exist.’ Quite the contrary, actually.
04 August 2026
"Unlike the Zionist claim that 'Israel has a right to exist,' my assertion is rooted in international law.
x
Gary Wilson
They came to Spain for work. Washington called it an invasion.
04 August 2026
"Israel and Washington use Ceuta and Melilla to attack Spain for naming the genocide in Gaza.
Nicaragua
Becca Renk Foster
Nicaragua to Raise Its Voice for Palestine in Another Landmark Case at the ICJ
04 August 2026
Against the backdrop of Israel’s renewed attacks on Palestine, the World Court is set to hold public hearings in Septembe

More Stories


  • Vanessa Beck
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    Elite Deploy Spy Hi-Tech Against the People
    22 Jun 2020
    Recent reports show the US military spied on George Floyd protests in 15 cities with planes, helicopters and drones.
  • “Zero Degree Rage” Focuses Black Minds
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    “Zero Degree Rage” Focuses Black Minds
    22 Jun 2020
    Nicholas Brady, professor of Africana Studies at Bucknell University and author of an article titled “Zero Degree Rage,” sees massed popular emotion as a liberatory weapon.
  • A New Generation, Same Struggle
    Black Agenda Radio with Margaret Kimberley and Glen Ford
    A New Generation, Same Struggle
    22 Jun 2020
    Despite an interim of more than 30 years, the current wave of protests shares similar goals to the 1989 student rebellion at Howard University, said Josh Myers, a professor of
  • Community Control of the Police – and a Whole Lot More
    Glen Ford, BAR Executive Editor
    Community Control of the Police – and a Whole Lot More
    18 Jun 2020
    Abolition of the police begins with community control, in which community representatives not only hire, fire and oversee the cops, but decide the nature of the policing that is necessary and accep
  • How Che Guevara Taught Cuba to Confront COVID-19
    Don Fitz
    How Che Guevara Taught Cuba to Confront COVID-19
    17 Jun 2020
    Cuba uses its decades of experience to create an example of how a country can confront the virus with a compassionate and competent plan.
  • Load More
Subscribe
connect with us
about us
contact us