The election pitted Robert Mugabe, the autocratic leader and his ZANUPF party which have led the country since independence 28 years ago, against Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). Initial results showed that the MDC had taken a majority in parliament and the MDC claimed victory in the presidential race as well. But that night, as anxious Zimbabweans waited for official returns, state-run television showed a documentary about the 1974 Dutch World Cup team. The next morning arrived with no official news. The MDC declared themselves the winners. The police and military, supporters of Mugabe, flatly stated they would not serve the MDC. Mugabe ordered the electoral commission not to release the results, and declared tampering in the parliamentary elections that gave the MDC the majority. He insisted neither candidate won the requisite 50 percent, and ordered a run-off. In the meanwhile, the military and armed ZANUPF supporters have spread out across the country beating, torturing, and in some cases, killing MDC supporters in a campaign of intimidation leading up to the run-off. MDC leader Mr. Tsvangirai has fled the country out of fear for his safety.

It was against this backdrop that the Chinese-owned tanker An Yue Jiang pulled into the port of Durban, South Africa carrying a cargo of Chinese-made ammunition and weapons bound for landlocked Zimbabwe. The munitions, many feared, would be used by Mugabe on his own people. And finally someone said no. In an act of courage and solidarity with their neighbors, the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union refused to off load the weapons. That act of resistance by the transport unions led to an Anglican Bishop filing suit in court to keep the weapons out of South Africa. Which in turn led Levy Mwanawasa, the president of Zambia and head of the 14 nation South African Development Community, to urge his fellow nations not to accept the tanker at any of their ports. With no place to off-load their cargo, and fearing international condemnation, today the tanker returned to China, its cargo load still full.

It is a powerful reminder of the power of saying "No." No, we will not participate, no matter how passively, in others' misfortune. The dockworkers led the way with their courage, and the rest of the world followed. It is a small victory for the people of Zimbabwe, but a victory all the same. They will need many more.