![Stores with locked doors and empty streets are seen during a strike launched by Palestinians to protest against the Israeli raids and attacks on the Wadi Rahhal town in Bethlehem, West Bank on August 27, 2024. [Wisam Hashlamoun - Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/AA-20240827-35491387-35491383-PALESTINIANS_GO_ON_STRIKE_IN_BETHLEHEM_TO_PROTEST_ISRAELI_ATTACKS.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
The Arab Higher Monitoring Committee has announced a general strike on 1 October to mark 24 years since the October 2000 protests against the Israeli military’s killing and wounding of scores of Palestinian citizens of Israel at the outbreak of the Second Intifada.
Between 1-8 October 2000, Israeli police officers shot dead 13 young unarmed Palestinian men, 12 citizens of Israel and one resident of Gaza. The 13 deaths and hundreds of injuries occurred when Israeli police opened fire on Palestinian citizens who had taken to the streets to protest against the Israeli military’s killing and wounding of scores of Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory at the outbreak of the Second Intifada.
In a statement issued yesterday, the committee said the strike will impact businesses, schools and public places throughout the Arab community and aims to protest Israel’s genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza, escalated violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank including the recent military offensive in Tulkarm, Jenin and Tubas as well as to express a collective stance against the ongoing destruction and violence faced by Arabs in Israel, including the demolition of Arab homes and rampant crime within the community.
The head of the committee, Muhammad Baraka, said the strike also aims to protest the unprecedented violence faced by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, including torture, starvation and the denial of medical services.
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