Prisoners’ organizations inside and outside Israeli occupation prisons called for a general strike in Gaza, the West Bank, and in exile and diaspora on May 1, 2012 to coincide with International Workers’ Day and the 15th day of the open hunger strike by thousands of Palestinian prisoners inside the Israeli jails. Calls for the general strike issued widely on Twitter, including the hashtag #May1Strike.
Nashat Alwaheidi, general coordinator of the Popular Movement for Support of Prisoners, said that Palestinian prisoners had sent a letter calling for national and Islamic leaders to unite in a general strike in parallel with the prisoners’ hunger strike, saying that a mass rally will take place in the Field of the Unknown Soldier in Gaza on May 1,
Alwaheidi said that the prisoners’ struggle is a serious responsibility as prisoner are central to the cause and the narrative of the Palestinian people and the first on the front lines to defend the Palestinian and Arab cause. He urged that ther must be no waiting to act with the prisoners, and there is no time to wait so long as Palestinian prisoners languish in the jails of the occupation.
A series of events will take place in Gaza in the coming week, including a march Monday, April 30 at 10 AM by Palestiniaan families to the International Committee of the Red Cross, the mass march and rally on Tuesday May 1, Wednesday, May 2 at 11 am, a raly in solidarity by the National and Islamic Forces in Nusseirat, Thursday, May 3 a strike in Gaza from 10 am to 11 am, followed by 11 am march organized by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Friday, May 4, Friday prayers and rally for the prisoners, and Saturday, May 5, 11 am mass rally in the Field of the Unknown Soldier.
