Gantry cranes used to load and unload cargo containers from ships sit idle at Global Container Terminals at Deltaport, in Delta, B.C., Friday, July 7, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
DELTA, B.C. – A blockade by pro-Palestinian protesters at a major port terminal in Metro Vancouver has broken up after hours of disruption.
Terminal operator GCT Canada says the illegal protesters’ actions today caused an unsafe situation as truckers tried to access the Deltaport facility but were being held on the Roberts Bank causeway.
GCT spokesman Marko Dekovic said the company was not warned of the blockade before today, and the protest was “severely impacting” the terminal’s ability to operate.
The Delta Police Department said earlier that its officers were at the scene and had been working to restore use of the roadway.
Protesters are calling the event “People’s Picket for Palestine,” and say in a statement that the demonstration is co-ordinated with protests around the world aimed at blocking “major choke points in the economy” to cause “the most economic impact.”
The B.C. protest contingent says more than 100 demonstrators participated in the blockade, and video from the scene showed protesters stopping traffic as they waved Palestinian flags, chanting “victory is very near.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 15, 2024.
