West Bank cities stage general strike in solidarity with Jerusalem’s Shuafat camp

Several West Bank cities and villages are observing today a one-day general strike in solidarity with occupied Jerusalem’s Shuafat refugee camp which has been under strict Israeli siege for five days.

Heading calls raised by the Lion’s Den, a group of Palestinian resistance fighters that has emerged in recent months, Palestinians in several cities and villages across the occupied West Bank are observing today a one-day general strike in solidarity with residents of the Shuafat refugee camp who have been besieged in the neighbourhood by Israeli occupation forces.

The general strike includes education and all businesses.

For five consecutive days, residents of occupied Jerusalem’s Shuafat refugee camp, located two kilometers from the Old City, have been trapped in the neighborhood, with some unable to leave to receive critical health treatments and many basic supplies running low, as Israeli forces enforce a strict blockade.

The Israeli forces imposed the siege after an Israeli occupation soldier was killed on Saturday by a man who approached a checkpoint leading to the camp and opened fire. Israeli forces claimed that the suspect, who is still at large, is Udi Tamimi, a 22-year-old Palestinian resident of Shuafat.

The Israeli forces reportedly claim the suspect is hiding in the area of the Shuafat refugee camp.

At least ten Palestinians, including Udi’s brother, have been arrested following the alleged shooting operation. On the night of the operation, the Israeli forces raided the Tamimi family home in the Shuafat refugee camp and took in Udi’s father and mother for questioning. They have been released since.

Israeli forces have also closed all entrances to the town of Anata, and the suburb of al-Salam, northeast of East Jerusalem.

On Tuesday night, residents of Shuafat camp declared civil disobedience against the Israeli occupation in protest of the ongoing siege of the camp and the neighboring town of Anata.

Shawan Jabarin, the chair of Al-Haq, a Palestinian human rights group, described the lockdown of the camp as “collective punishment” in which Israeli authorities “feel they are immune from accountability”.

“The life of a Palestinian has no sanctity to them, as well as their livelihoods and dignity. This is embedded in the [Israeli] occupation’s mindset,” said Jabarin.

“From a legal point of view, this collective punishment amounts to a war crime and violates the Geneva convention. It’s a form of persecution that the state of Israel applies both in action and in law.”

Shuafat is the only refugee camp that lies in Jerusalem’s municipal boundaries but lies on the other side of the Israeli apartheid wall from the majority of the city.

Around 140,000 Palestinians live in the camp, 90 percent of which have Jerusalem resident IDs that are different from Israeli or Palestinian Authority citizenship.