WEST BANK/GAZA STRIP (Dispatches) – Palestinians across the political divide staged a nationwide general strike on Tuesday to protest the Zionist regime’s continuing bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip.
The strike, which saw the disruption of all economic and commercial establishments in al-Quds, the occupied West Bank, Gaza and Palestinian communities inside the occupied territories, came as more than 200 people, including 61 children, have been killed in intense Zionist attacks on the besieged enclave of two million people.
The strike also came amid plans to forcibly displace residents of the Palestinian neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, and days of attacks at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
News of the initiative was welcomed by Palestinian political parties, unions, syndicates and institutions, which published statements confirming their commitment. Residents of the occupied Syrian Golan Heights also took part in the strike.
Unlike previous calls for general strikes, which have historically been made by political parties, unions or federations, Tuesday’s strike was organized and pushed for by ordinary Palestinians.
Spokesman for the Palestinian government Ibrahim Milhem told reporters that all government ministries and establishments joined the general strike.
“The general strike is to express outrage for the aggression that Israel is waging against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and in East Al-Quds,” he said, adding that “the health ministry was excluded from the general strike.”
On Tuesday, Palestinian security sources and eyewitnesses said that Zionist fighter jets carried out dozens of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, targeting homes, apartments, roads, and agricultural fields.
The Palestinians have long used general strikes to express their rejection of the Zionist regime’s practices.
The strike is reminiscent of a famous six-month strike that took place in 1936, which involved the whole country and was aimed at pressuring Britain to end policies that paved the way for the occupation of Palestinian lands by the Zionist regime.
A general strike also took place during what is termed the “rocks intifada” of 1987-1993, when Palestinians responded to Zionist attacks by paralyzing the economy and refusing to deal with the regime in charge of affairs in the West Bank and Gaza, prior to the creation of the Palestinian Authority (PA).
During that intifada, Palestinians adhered to a general strike every week on Tuesday.