GREEK and Italian dockworkers who successfully blocked arms shipments to Israel have said that the anti-war movement cannot rely on spontaneity if it is to be successful.

They joined trade unionists, activists and politicians from across the world on Saturday at the international anti-war conference in London, where they discussed paths to stop European governments from pushing the continent closer to the brink.

Palestinian physicist and leader of the Palestine National Initiative Dr Mustafa Barghouti told the conference that it was time to “translate your solidarity into concrete action” by supporting actions that press a “total comprehensive boycott and sanctions against Israel.”

Recognising the size of the solidarity movement for Palestine liberation, Dr Barghouti said it has “become an internal issue in every country in the world.”

In his speech, he referred to the struggles against the US war in Vietnam and the apartheid South African government, adding: “Now is the time for Palestine. And Palestine will win.”

Dockworkers’ Union in Piraeus general secretary Giorgos Gogos said it was necessary for other productive industries to take on similar actions as his comrades did in Greece’s primary port.

He said: “They want to convert our commercial ports into military ports: we will not accept this. We don’t want it.”

Speaking of politicians pushing for further military spending across the continent, he asked: “What do [our leaders] want exactly? They want our tax money to go towards killing our sons and daughters. We don’t want that.

“When they tell you it will [boost the economy and jobs], they are telling you: in order to keep your job, you have to make the very bomb that kills your sons and daughters.”

Representing the Genoa dockworkers responsible for Italy’s two-day general strike last year, Maurizio Coppola said the movement was successful only because it was well organised.

“It was ‘blocchiamo tutto’ (block everything),” he said. “This movement was not spontaneous. There was a long organised process behind it.

“Spontaneity cannot lead to such general strikes. It must be organised in advance.”

The docker added that the invasion of Gaza following October 7 marked the “beginning of a development of consciousness, an awareness, that what is going on [in Palestine], means something for our world, for our lives, in the heart of capitalism.”

La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) assembly member Jerome Legavre pointed towards the real enemy of peace as being our own governments, specifically calling out President Emmanuel Macron’s pledges for further arms spending.

Mr Legavre told conference that the massive demonstrations in solidarity with Palestinians prove that “people, and especially young people, don’t want war.

Pointing to the success of the massive peace meeting in London, he said: “Starting today, our task is to bring together and to unite all forces [demanding an end to wars] against our governments.”

He said this included “political parties, campaign groups and associations.”