New Orleans Stop Helping Israel’s Ports (NOSHIP) has been present at the Port of New Orleans board meetings since November, demanding that the port retract its letter requesting Cooperation with the port of Ashdod in Israel. In addition, the port is being called upon to terminate its contracts with companies that supply the Israeli government with weapons.
Another group, No haven for genocideis calling on ports around the world to stop shipping military fuel to Israel. A member spoke at the port’s last board meeting and demanded that the port begin seizing ships carrying aid to Israel.
The Port of New Orleans does not have the authority to make these changes, board chairman Joseph Toomy said in an official statement.
“Under the state and federal laws that create and regulate this body, we have neither the power nor the authority to make political or moral judgments about which ports or countries trade through the Port of New Orleans,” he said.
In a press release, NOSHIP accused the port of using intimidation tactics to prevent people from speaking. Port police attendance fluctuates from meeting to meeting. After a member of the group, Felix Allen, was arrested on March 21 while leaving a meeting, the group has spent the last few months additionally demanding that charges against him be dropped. After appearing at several court hearings, the case was dismissed the same day of the last board meeting.
“I was just standing there and getting accosted as I tried to leave, it was really weird,” said Allen, who works in the tourism industry in New Orleans.
“We all have an interest in what happens here economically, but we do not want our wages to be paid with blood money. It is not worth being involved in a genocide.”
The port did not address these allegations in its statement on Thursday.
Does the Port of New Orleans facilitate military aid to Israel?
The panel said it could not find any information in the International Trade Commission’s database on the amount of arms and other forms of aid going to Israel.
“In fact, U.S. Customs and Border Protection examined its export data for all shipments from Louisiana to Israel last year and could not confirm any of the items mentioned in this report,” Toomy said.
According to the International Trade Commission databaseIn May, the port exported more than $51,000 worth of military weapons to Israel in the categories of rocket launchers, flamethrowers and torpedo tubes. It also shipped more than $3 million worth of aircraft and spacecraft parts.
NOSHIP cited some of this data in a press release before the meeting, and WWNO confirmed it using the International Trade Commission database.
Can the Port of New Orleans stop these exports?
According to the board, this is not possible under federal law.
“The power to determine foreign policy rests solely with the federal government, and the power to enforce that policy, including regulating international trade, is expressly vested in the United States Congress under the Constitution – not this body,” Toomy said, referring to a clause in the Constitution of the United States which gives Congress the power to “regulate foreign commerce.”
NOSHIP pointed to a state law It states that the Port of New Orleans may, “without limiting such authority,” adopt rules and regulations relating to “the protection, removal and disposal of cargoes.”
“If that’s the jurisdiction, I’d like to know what you mean when you say you don’t have the authority,” said Gina Kissee, a local resident. “I’d like to know what you mean when you say you don’t have any way of finding out the information we found in publicly available databases.”
The groups also pointed to the International Court of Justice’s finding last month that Israel’s The occupation of the Palestinian territories is illegal. The group cited a letter from the Palestinian Institute for Public Diplomacy, which advises nations to deny entry to their ports to supply ships carrying military aid to Israel.
“I don’t think we can afford to abdicate responsibility in this case. I mean, you’re the Port Authority, so we certainly have some authority here,” Allen said in his comments to the board.
Also against the Louisiana International Terminal
Many of the commenters also opposed the Board’s entry into a Cooperative Endeavor Agreement with the Louisiana State Government. Such an agreement would give the Port access to more than $13 million for the design and construction of the Louisiana International Terminala $1.8 billion container terminal project planned in Violet, LA.
“You can’t do anything about the things that go through that port, and yet you have the power to overstep the authority of the people of St. Bernard Parish and take over this land, over a thousand acres, including the wetlands in St. Bernard Parish,” Kissee said.
The speakers expressed their solidarity with Save our St. Bernarda group of community residents who are against the new container terminal. At the beginning of the year, the local government published a report They said the project would harm the environment, health and quality of life of people living in the area.
The board approved the agreement by a vote of 5:0.
Save Our St. Bernard did not attend the public meeting and did not respond to a request for comment.
