Above photo: The Overseas Santorini. David Sanchez.
A growing international coalition is fighting to prevent vessels carrying military fuel to Israel from docking in the Mediterranean Sea.
An oil tanker scheduled to carry 300,000 barrels of military-grade jet fuel to Israel has been prevented from docking in Spain and Gibraltar following pressure from activists.
The oil is expected to be used in Israeli Air Force’s F16 and F35 jets as part of the country’s genocidal assault on Gaza.
The Overseas Santorini was supposed to dock in Gibraltar on July 30, but it did not stop and is currently traveling northeast in the Mediterranean.
It’s unclear if the failure to dock was connected to the protests. Gibraltar confirmed that the vessel requested to stop and an official told the Gibraltar Chronicle that no services were supplied to the tanker. The government says the decision not to bunker was made by the company.
The effort to block the ship from docking is part of the No Harbour for Genocide campaign, which was launched by a coalition of groups including Progressive International, Disrupt Power, the Palestinian Institute for Public Diplomacy, Valero out of Corpus, the Arab Group for the Protection of Nature, and the BDS National Committee.
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In a public statement, the coalition called states with ports in the Mediterranean Sea to prevent the docking of all vessels carrying military fuel to Israel, in compliance with legal obligations to prevent genocide and other international crimes.
“Israel is committing grave violations of fundamental principles of international law in Palestine, including ethnic cleansing and genocide, which constitute a crime against international peace and security,” it reads. “In breach of legally binding orders made by the International Court of Justice, Israel continues its relentless massacre of the Palestinian people.”
Last week a group of UK MPs wrote to UK foreign secretary David Lammy and Gibraltar chief minister Fabian Picardo. “The case to prevent Gibraltar’s facilities from being complicit in Israel’s breaches of international law are overwhelming,” it read. “Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s assault.”
Protests in Spain have already prevented the tanker from docking at the port of Algeciras. The tanker is supposed to dock in Cyprus in early August, but activist groups in that country have also joined the campaign to block the boat. A coalition of Italian Palestine solidarity groups has also joined the campaign by issuing lookout notices and demanding that coastal authorities disclose whether the boat has requested to dock at any Italian ports. Italy is the third exporter of weapons to Israel.
“The demand of Italian groups is clear: our seas and our harbors will not be stained with the blood of our Palestinian siblings,” an activist with the group IN.Palestina told Mondoweiss.
The Overseas Santorini was loaded at the Bill Greehey refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas, with oil from Valero Energy Corp, which is based in San Antonio. Valero supplies fuel to over 7,000 retail locations across the United States and Europe.
LOOKOUT NOTICE 🌊🚢✊🏽:
The international coalition, No Harbour for Genocide, calls on Dockworkers, Port-workers, Traffic Managers, Boaters, Sailors, Fishers, Ferries and members of the public:
The Motor Tanker Overseas Santorini is going to enter the Straits of Gibraltar and… pic.twitter.com/WC7tNgiyns
— Global Energy Embargo for Palestine (@palenembargo) July 30, 2024
Valero Vice President for Federal Affairs and Counsel Salo Zelermyer was one of House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) guests for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent speech to the U.S. Congress. Valero operates a political action committee that contributed $532,500 to Republican candidates in 2022. The PAC has already spent $387,500 on the 2024 election, with the majority of it going to GOP candidates.
In May, the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO) published a report calling companies to stop supplying Israel with jet fuel and recommended an embargo on the practice. The briefing specifically cites Valero’s connection to the ongoing assault.
“Many credible sources have documented crimes under international law being
committed by Israel in the context of its ongoing military campaign in Gaza,” it reads a briefing from the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations (SOMO). “These include indiscriminate attacks leading to massive loss of civilian life and targeting of civilian infrastructure amongst other acts which constitute war crimes. Multiple sources, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and UN human rights experts have documented indiscriminate attacks by air which have resulted in catastrophic civilian casualties.”
The SOMO report also points out that the leadership of such companies could face legal ramifications for abetting Israeli atrocities.
“Whether or not companies and executives involved in supplying jet fuel to Israel may incur legal liability for war crimes being perpetrated in Gaza, depends on whether their conduct has a substantial effect on the commission of crimes by the Israeli armed forces and whether the company or its senior executives know or should have known that their conduct has a reasonable likelihood of contributing to the crimes,” it explains.
In April a group of activists gathered outside Valero’s corporate headquarters to protest its connection to Israel’s ongoing genocide. . “Not another nickel, not another dime. No more money for Israel’s crimes,” they chanted.
“Our organizing in Texas began after we learnt that Valero Energy Corporation, based here in San Antonio, is under contract with the Department of Defense to supply Israel with about 300,000 barrels of military fuel every two months,” Palestinian-American activist and Valero out of Corpus member Haithem El-Zabri told Mondoweiss. “By supplying this military fuel, on which the Israeli army is dependent for fueling its F16 and F35 jet fighters and Merkava tanks that are bombing Gaza as we speak, Valero has made itself directly complicit in this genocide. We are calling on all Americans of conscience to protest this complicity and demand that Valero terminate this contract immediately or face public disgrace and legal consequences.”
“The general public is mostly unaware of Valero’s direct involvement in enabling crimes against humanity and we expect that Valero is about to face a public relations disaster and a lawsuit,” El-Zabri continued. “Valero is also guilty of significant environmental damage in the Gulf of Mexico and we are collaborating with our indigenous allies, as well as environmental activists, to stop this desecration of sacred lands and our Mother Earth. We will use all means at our disposal to demand a halt to this and to hold all companies contributing to the genocide accountable.”