Weapons to Israel Blocked in New Jersey

By Mary Anne Grady Flores, World BEYOND War, October 8, 2025

Why go to Port Elizabeth?  The port in Elizabeth, NJ, is the third-largest port in the United States, with Maersk and Zimm trucks delivering weapons to be shipped to Israel’s genocide. “We went to uphold law, both moral and legal law!” said Ellen Grady, one of four arrested.

Last Friday, before dawn, an autonomous group of 100 people stopped truck traffic for 45 minutes as they stood on a major road in Port Elizabeth, near Newark Airport, with banners, “Stop Sending Weapons to a Genocide.” It was a peaceful act in solidarity with the people of Gaza, the Global Sumud Flotilla, and many global port shutdowns, most notably in Italy.

Supplying these weapons for Israel’s genocide is a blatant violation of the U.S. War Crimes Act, the Leahy law, the Foreign Assistance Act, the Arms Export Control Act, and the Genocide Convention Implementation Act. To uphold these laws and prevent unlawful weapons shipments, protestors peacefully came to uphold all U.S. and international laws about genocide.

Trucks were backed up for miles for over an hour<, witnessed by Ellen Grady as she was taken by car the police station to be charged and released by noon that day. Ellen was one of four arrested, including Mark Scibilia-Carver, Teresa Grady, and Daniel Creamer. Teresa Grady said, “I asked the police to stop the trucks and inspect them for weapons. They must be a part of stopping this illegal activity.”

In the last 24 hours, as we mark the beginning of the third year of genocide, another 95 Palestinians were killed in Gaza by Israel. According to the U.N. Special Rapporteur for Palestine, Francesca Albanese, the latest comprehensive estimate of those brutally killed is 680,000, half of whom are children under 5 years old.

Colombian President Gustavo Petros asked nations in the General Assembly to create a military peacekeeping force to stop Israel. The UN General Assembly’s tool to stop a genocide is called Uniting for Peace, which can create a military peacekeeping force. But, think about this! Israel has 400 nuclear weapons and the backing of the US military. What peacekeeping force would be able to stand up to this? We saw the Italian military ship accompanying the Global Sumud Flotilla leave as they approached the red zone of Gaza’s waters. As Mark Scibilia-Carver said, “The non-violent way to stop a genocide is by stopping the shipment of weapons from here!”