Israeli Arabs to launch strike against discriminatory policies
By Jean Shaoul
30 September 2009Israel’s 1.4 million Arab citizens are to stage a one-day general strike on October 1 to oppose the openly racist and discriminatory policies of Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu’s government.
Jafar Farah, director of the Mossawa Center, the Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens in Israel, cited “ongoing police violence, cuts in the state budget that will detrimentally affect local Arab councils, the deepening of social and economic discrimination, the huge amount of bills introduced which would increase legal discrimination against the Arab community, political incitement against both the Arab community and its leaders and the atmosphere since the election of the new government.”
“Somebody has to say stop it, that's it, it's enough,” he warned. “Otherwise it could lead to civil war.”
The strike takes place on the anniversary of a general strike, or Intifada, in northern Israel in 2000, two days after Ariel Sharon’s provocative visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and in response to the killing of six Arabs in the mosque in Jerusalem. The Israeli police responded with gunfire, killing 13 Arab demonstrators, some at point blank rage, and injuring hundreds more. It was the first time that the security forces had turned their firepower on Palestinians living within Israel.
Ministers in the ruing Labour coalition and the media denounced the demonstrations and strikes as an “uprising” and a “revolt.” This helped inflame the situation, leading to more killings and numerous attacks by Jewish zealots on Arab shops, homes and individuals, with little attempt on the part of the Israeli authorities to defend the Arab minority.
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/sep2009/isra-s30.shtml