Activists protested outside the World Trade Center on Thursday over military-related materials being flown through JFK Airport to Israel. At the same time, Jabari Brisport brought the issue to a Port Authority board meeting and asked for public disclosure of airline agreements tied to the shipments.
The protest was organized under the Break the Chain campaign led by the Democratic Socialists of America. Break the Chain says military cargo bound for Israel passes through JFK Airport regularly, sometimes multiple times a week, and protesters called for an end to the shipments and greater accountability from the Port Authority.
World Trade Center protest
The Intercept reported that Challenge Airlines cargo flights transported materials including nitrocellulose, bomb casings and guidance kits from JFK to Israel. It also reported that thousands of pounds worth of parts for bunker-buster bombs went through JFK during the height of the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Ibtihal Aboussad said, “The precision bomb Israel used to strike this hospital now for the seventh time was an American bomb manufactured by Boeing, paid for by American taxpayers, and perhaps shipped out of JFK - an airport that functions mere miles away from us.”
Aboussad also raised the possibility that the weapons shipments contributed to the bombing of Nasser Medical Complex in southern Gaza. Her remarks linked the cargo dispute to the earlier attack, while the protest stayed focused on the airport route used for the shipments.
Brisport at Port Authority
Brisport said his main concern was the nitrocellulose being shipped through JFK to Israel. He cited an explosion involving nitrocellulose in a China port around a decade ago that killed around 170 individuals.
He told the Port Authority board, “In your own airport rules and regulations, Section 13, part A, it states that any material defined by a federal regulation, or the international civil aviation organization, as hazardous, poisonous, explosive, or radioactive, may not be handled without the prior permission, but the port authority. So, I'm asking you to publicly release your agreements related to Challenge Airlines, that is the airline that carried nitrocellulose and other explosives at JFK Airport, as well as any other airline passenger or cargo that is shipping and handling hazardous materials.”
A Port Authority spokesperson told Middle East Eye that it is doing all it can to ensure public safety. The spokesperson said responsibility for what is allowed to be shipped on aircraft belongs to individual airlines and the federal government, leaving the question of whether the Port Authority can stop or publicly disclose the Challenge Airlines shipments at the center of the dispute.
