Omar Abu Fool, 30, died on Tuesday, May 15, of the wounds he sustained during unrestrained Israeli fire against Gazans protesting near the border fence the previous day, according to sources at the Shifa Hospital in Gaza where he had been hospitalized. Abu Fool was the 60th fatality of the brutal Israeli massacre along the Gaza border in which another 2,400 were wounded.
The High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel called on Monday evening for a general strike, including schools and businesses, in the Arab communities throughout the country to be held today, Wednesday May 16, in solidarity with the people of Gaza.
Demonstrators evacuate a wounded fellow protester from near the Gaza frontier with Israel on Monday, May 14, 2018. (Photo: Wafa)
Protests against the transfer of the US Embassy to Jerusalem and the Gaza massacre were held on Monday and Tuesday across Israel, including in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Jaffa, Nazareth, Tel Aviv University, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Sakhnin, Arabe, Kufr Yassif, Yfia, Tira and Tamra.
The demonstration in Tel Aviv was held opposite Likud Party Headquarters (Metzudat Ze`ev) at 38 King George Street. According to the invitation “When Netanyahu and Trump play with fire, the fire flares up ― and kills. This is what is happening now in the Gaza Strip. The same may also happen in Jerusalem and throughout the country, if this dangerous lighting of matches near the powder keg doesn’t stop. Instead of striving for Israeli-Palestinian peace, which is the only way to achieve a life of dignity and security for Israelis and Palestinians alike, the right-wing government prefers to drag us all into another round of violence and bloodshed. Instead of allowing them to continue with this reckless game, we must stand up and demand: Stop the fire, stop playing with the lives of the residents of this country, and make a complete change of direction. No more occupation, no more annexation and blockade! We demand Israeli-Palestinian peace!”
In the Occupied Palestinian Territories a general strike affecting all aspects of life was also observed on Tuesday, after having been called for by President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian government to mark the 70th anniversary of the Nakba, the dispersion and uprooting of Palestinians from their homeland in 1948, and to mourn the 60 Palestinians butchered by the Israeli army in Gaza.
Shops remained shuttered as public servants, students and many employed in the private sector remained at home in observance of the strike in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. The latter was the center of attention on Monday when the United States opened its embassy in the southern part of the city, provoking the wide-scale protests there and throughout the West Bank, as well as in Gaza which, in turn, led to the massive Israeli violence against protestors.
Related: As US Moves Its Embassy to Jerusalem, Israeli Forces Kill 52 Palestinian Protesters in Gaza
