General Strike protests against Israeli plan to confiscate more than 200 acres of land in the Negev

A General Strike has been held in Palestinian villages in the Negev Desert in protest against Israel’s plan to confiscate more than 200 acres of land owned by Arab citizens. The strike led to the closure of schools, shops and municipal offices for a day. Around 30,000 Palestinians will be displaced from the so-called “unrecognised villages” affected by the land grab.

The strike was held two days after extremist Israeli settlers set fire to Al-Nour mosque in the village of Tuba-Zangaria, and one day after the Israeli authorities demolished houses in the “unrecognised” Negev village of Al-Araqib.

Thousands of Palestinian citizens of the Zionist state staged a demonstration in Beersheba rejecting the planned confiscation. Leading Arab-Israeli figures and Knesset members took part in the demonstration, which was proceeded by a march from the Beersheba municipal office to the Somood Tent near the Bedouin settlement office. The tent is the control centre of the protests and has also had a demolition order served upon it by the Israeli occupation authorities.