Children in gaza protesting with hands chained

Palestinian hunger strikers remain defiant as solidarity protests grow

Support for the more than 1500 Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike, which began on April 16, continues to grow across the Occupied Palestinian Territories, despite the more than 1500 prisoners on hunger strike getting almost no reaction from mainstream media.

On April 27, thousands of Palestinians in launched a general strike in solidarity across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, shutting down their public transportation services, shops, businesses, banks and schools, TeleSUR English reported.

The Ma’an news service reported that on the day of the strike strike, the streets were so empty, they were reminiscent of the First Intifada (“uprising”), which started in 1987, when Palestinian general strikes were part of a coordinated civil disobedience campaign against Israeli forces.

The next day, more than 50 Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli forces in protests across the West Bank as part of a “Day of Rage” called by Palestinian party Fatah.

Read the full article by Lisa Gleeson at Green Left Weekly.