Palestinians went on general strike across the West Bank on Monday in protest against Israel’s controversial nation-state law.
The strike is a show of solidarity with Arab citizens in Israel against a law that defines Israel as a Jewish state.
The streets of Ramallah and other West Bank cities were largely empty on Monday as schools, universities, government offices, and private business were closed.
Public transportation also was not available.
The nation state law has come under fierce criticism at home and abroad and has provoked anger among the 1.8 million Palestinian Arabs who make up a fifth of Israel’s 9 million citizens.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hastily set up a committee to propose new legislation to mollify the law’s critics but no amendments have been enacted since the its passage in July shortly before parliament went on its summer recess.
It will reconvene in the middle of October.
“The strike is a message to the world that the cause of apartheid and racism is something that should not only be dealt with internally but it should be talked about globally,” said Mohammed Barakeh, a former Israeli lawmaker who heads a committee that monitors Israeli policy concerning Israel’s Arabs.
