ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - From the far north to the deep south, Italy came to a standstill on Monday as demonstrations and mass strikes were held in more than 75 cities, with protestors amassing to show solidarity with Palestinians and to demand an end to Italian arms shipments to Israel.

Despite Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s declaration that Italy will not recognize Palestine, an estimated 100,000 people took to the streets, paralyzing transport, ports, and schools—just one day after Portugal, the UK, and Canada formally recognized a Palestinian state.

The nationwide strike, organized by the Unione Sindacale di Base (USB), was held under the slogan 'Blocchiamo tutto'—'Let’s block everything' in English. Workers from myriad sectors participated in the action, including public transportation, schools and universities, logistics, dockworkers, maritime trade, industry, and energy firms.

Ports in Genoa and Venice, the A1 highway between Bologna and Florence, Rome’s Termini Station, and Milan’s Centrale Station were among the country’s major chokepoints that were shut down by the gatherings. Many more highways and urban beltways were blocked, causing severe traffic disruption nationwide.

While most rallies remained peaceful, Milan witnessed violent clashes. At Centrale Station, riot police charged protesters, using batons and firing tear gas to disperse the crowd. Videos circulating online showed officers striking demonstrators and chaotic scenes inside the city’s main rail hub.

Rome saw the country’s largest demonstration, drawing more than 50,000 marchers, while in Venice more than 20,000 rallied and blocked the Marghera commercial port. In Naples and Turin, protesters set fire to posters of Prime Minister Meloni and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In Bari, demonstrators rallied outside the Israeli consulate, shouting slogans including “Fascist Israel, terrorist state.”

A precursor in Genoa

In Genoa, today’s protests built on weeks of rising tension. On August 31, dockworkers from the Calp collective—an autonomous group affiliated with USB—held a candlelight vigil to see off vessels departing the city to join the Global Sumud Flotilla, an aid mission sailing toward Gaza with food and essential goods. At that rally, dockworker Riccardo Rudino warned that if the Israeli government carried out threats to target the flotilla, Genoese dockworkers would be ready to shut down trade routes. “From this region alone, 13 to 14 thousand containers go to Israel each year,” Rudino said. “Not a single nail will leave anymore.”

That defiant position echoed into today’s strike, with Calp mobilizing again in Genoa as part of USB’s broader call, linking workers’ rights with solidarity for the Palestinian cause.

USB leaders framed the strike as both an act of solidarity and a domestic protest.

“We are here today to say enough to complicity,” said Sasha Colautti of the union’s National Secretariat. “We refuse to turn away while an entire population in Palestine, in Gaza, and the West Bank, is being exterminated. What is happening in the Middle East concerns us directly—this government allocates billions for rearmament while healthcare, education, and wages collapse. There is an economy of genocide, and that is what we want to denounce.”

Vatican employees join in

The protest wave even reached the Vatican, where members of the Association of Vatican Lay Employees joined the strike. Citing the late Pope Francis’ recent Angelus appeal for peace, they announced their participation in a vigil at Santa Maria in Trastevere.

In a statement, the union called for an end to arms shipments to Israel and the recognition of Palestinian statehood, as well as asserting its rejection of antisemitism.

“The situation in Gaza requires a united mobilization, so that the hostages held by Hamas can also be freed. The massacre taking place in the Strip is unprecedented, and we demand a surge of dignity from all governments, so that they end the supply of weapons to Israel and grant full institutional recognition to the Palestinian people. We also firmly reject any resurgence of antisemitism, convinced that the majority of Jewish people stand in solidarity with this long-suffering nation," the Lay Employees' union wrote.

A virtual strike on social media

The strike also unfolded online. Many prominent actors, singers, influencers, and content creators took part in a “virtual strike,” refusing to post on their social media accounts for the day. The symbolic silence was meant to show solidarity with Gaza and to amplify the message that, for many Italians, business as usual—offline or online—was no longer acceptable in the face of the ongoing humanitarian crisis.

Government response

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni initially remained silent on the nationwide strike. Instead of addressing the protests, she posted a video of assassinated US conservative pundit Charlie Kirk’s funeral on her social media, stating:

“A powerful message to the entire world: against hatred and political violence, one can respond with the strength of love, faith, and freedom. And Charlie will continue to live on as a symbol of what he always stood for: dialogue and freedom.”

However, critics quickly pointed out that the political violence and freedom she championed did not appear to extend to Palestinian lives, given Meloni’s consistent stance that Italy will not recognize the State of Palestine.

Later in the evening, Meloni shifted her focus to Milan, where clashes between police and demonstrators erupted at the Centrale Station. She condemned the scenes as “shameful,” writing on Instagram: “Self-proclaimed pro-Palestinians, antifascists, and pacifists tearing apart the train station and clashing with law enforcement. Acts of violence and destruction will not change life in Gaza—but they will damage Italian citizens, who will pay for these thugs’ behavior. Our thoughts are with police forces forced to endure this senseless violence.”

Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini echoed the criticism, describing the demonstrations as “not a strike, but violence: train stations stormed and besieged, rocks thrown onto the tracks, thousands of commuters stranded and furious.”