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Civil disobedience in Jerusalem and general strikes in the West Bank

The situation further deteriorates in the occupied West Bank including East Jerusalem, as the Israeli military registers its second casualty in three days.

Jerusalem24 – A general strike across towns and cities in the occupied West Bank including East Jerusalem is underway, in solidarity with residents of Shuafat refugee camp and two other Palestinian communities in occupied East Jerusalem who are under an Israeli military siege for the fourth consecutive day.

Last night, a large number of young men took to the streets in Shuafat, Anata, and Al-Salem after formally declaring civil disobedience, and gathered at the checkpoints leading out of the camp and villages to confront the Israeli army.

The statement by the residents of the camp was followed by calls for a generalized strike from the National and Islamic Forces as well as the Jerusalem Governorate. The statement enjoined commerces and public institutions to remain closed, for workers to abstain from going to work, for the use of cars to be restricted after 10pm, and for large numbers to participate in protests near checkpoints and the Israeli army.

Solidarity

Residents of the East Jerusalem communities have been subjected to what they describe as “collective punishment” (and what lawyer Medhat Deeba is calling “collective vengeance“) where around 150,000 Palestinians have been sealed in the camp and surrounding communities by the Israeli army since last Saturday night when an Israeli soldier was killed and three others injured in a shooting attack at the Shuafat checkpoint.

They are facing electricity cuts as well as a shortage of medicines and basic foodstuffs. Thousands of students are currently unable to reach their schools, and patients are prevented from reaching medical centers outside the camp. Around 15,000 workers have been prevented from reaching their place of employment outside the camp for the past five days.

In solidarity with the residents of the camp, commitment to the full strike has been observed in Qalandiya camp and Kafr Aqab east of Jerusalem; Al-Essawiya, Silwan, Beit Hanina, and Anata in East Jerusalem; as well as in Dheisheh camp in Bethlehem, Al-Fuwar camp in Hebron, Beit Ummar north of Hebron, Nablus, Jib, and parts of Ramallah.

Universities also implemented a general strike, including Al-Quds University in Abu Dis, Birzeit University, Hebron University, An-Najah University, and Bethlehem University.

A manhunt is still underway for 22-year-old Oday Tamimi, a resident of Shuafat, who the Israeli military has identified as the perpetrator of the shooting attack.

Second Israeli military casualty this week

A second Israeli soldier was killed in a shooting attack on Tuesday afternoon near the illegal Israeli settlement of Shavi Shomron near Nablus in the occupied West Bank.

Palestinian armed group the Lions’ Den claimed the attack. Earlier in the day, the group called for “days of rage” and for Palestinians to mobilize and head towards “confrontations points”.

The armed group also claimed responsibility for another four shooting attacks at Israeli military targets in the Nablus region on Tuesday.

The Lions’ Den also echoed calls for a general strike in support of Shuafat on Tuesday night.

Israeli forces are maintaining a large military presence surrounding Nablus following the shootings, and have sealed several roads with dirt mounds and closed the checkpoints leading to the city. Roads and villages including Deir Sharaf, Masaken, Huwara, Ourta, Sarra, Tal, and Asira Al-Shamaliyeh, as well as Beit Furik and Sebastia, have all been sealed off or their access restricted by closed military checkpoints.

A group of armed Israeli settlers roamed the streets of Huwara south of Nablus last night, terrorizing and pursuing residents on foot. Israeli settlers also attacked homes and threw stones in the village of Sinjel north of Ramallah, causing material damage and one reported injury.

During the month of September, a total of 75 shooting attacks were carried out by Palestinian gunmen against Israeli targets – mainly military in nature – as well as 21 IED attacks, two stabbing attempts, and two car-ramming attempts. In addition, 310 spontaneous confrontation events between Palestinian youth or Palestinian armed fighters and Israeli forces were recorded by Moata Palestinian Information Center.

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