Yarraville woman arrested as pro-Palestine activists blockade Israeli ship at the Port of Melbourne

A Yarraville woman has been arrested for assault after protesters clashed with police in an attempt to block workers from unloading an Israeli ship. WATCH THE VIDEO.

A Melbourne woman has been arrested at a pro-Palestine union protest for allegedly spitting at an officer, with police using pepper spray against “hostile” activists blockading an Israeli ship.

The protest, organised by Unionists for Palestine, began picketing the terminal at Webb Docks Victoria International Terminal Company in Port Melbourne on Friday afternoon in a bid to block workers from unloading an Israeli-owned company ZIM ship.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said some of the 85 protesters “became hostile and aggressive” when police “asked them to move off private property” around 4am last night.

“Police were forced to deploy OC spray toward several protesters and one female was arrested for spitting at police,” she said.

A 32-year-old Yarraville woman was charged with assaulting a police member and was bailed to appear in court at a later date.

The spokeswoman said police will “continue to monitor the area so that there are no further breaches of the peace”.

In a media release issued prior to the arrests, National Tertiary Education member Tori Balli accused ZIM of being “complicit in genocide” and Health and Community Services union member Tihtina Merid accused them of being a “major transporter of weapons of mass destruction”.

Unionist for Palestine said in a social media post the picket line was “still strong” just before 2pm on Saturday.

This is not the first time protesters have targeted ZIM ships since Israel began its bombardment of Gaza, in the wake of the fatal Hamas attacks and kidnappings on October 7 in Israel.

Since October 7 more than 24,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health and, according to Israeli authorities, more than 1200 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel.

As of January 15, Israeli authorities estimated about 136 Israeli and foreign nationals were still being held hostage in Gaza.

Originally published as Yarraville woman arrested as pro-Palestine activists blockade Israeli ship at the Port of Melbourne