Palestinians across the occupied territories and Israel observed a general strike on 1 October in protest against Israel’s Jewish Nation-State Law, adopted by the Knesset (parliament) in July.
The strike coincided with a bitter fight to resist Israel’s planned demolition of West Bank Bedouin village Khan al-Ahmar, and increasing disquiet about US president Donald Trump’s “deal of the century”, which threatens to endorse Israel’s annexation of large swathes of the West Bank.
According to the Spanish media outlet Agencia EFE, “shops were shuttered down, government and financial institutions did not open to business and schools and universities suspended classes” across Palestinian neighbourhoods on both sides of the Green Line (the armistice line that separates Israel from the occupied West Bank).
The World Bulletin reported that Israeli forces fired rubber bullets and tear gas canisters to disperse stone-throwing Palestinians in the West Bank cities of Ramallah and al-Bireh. Similar clashes were reported in the village of Nabi Saleh and the cities of Nablus, Qalqilya and Hebron. Joint [Arab] List member of the Knesset Yousef Jabareen told the Ynet news website:
“The strike sends a message of opposition to the continued discrimination and racism towards the Arab public, which will not receive inferior citizenship status as second or third class citizens. We were born in this country and will fight for national equality. Full and equal citizenship for all.”
Read the article by Nick Everett (convener of Friends of Palestine WA) in Red Flag.