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| Volume 55 Number 9, April 19, 2025 | ARCHIVE | HOME | JBCENTRE | SUBSCRIBE |
In a powerful display of continued global grassroots mobilisation aimed at pressuring world leaders and governments to act against the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip, a global general strike took place on April 7 in solidarity with Gaza and to protest against Israel's brutal and relentless assault.
Arab countries have seen wide participation at the public level. Unions and institutions in Jordan, Kuwait, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia announced their commitment to the strike.
In the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, the strike took on a more official tone following decisions from the Ministry of Education to suspend schools and similar decisions suspending operations in various public institutions.
March on Washington US DC for Palestine - Photo:
PFNewYork
Activists in Jordan and Egypt stressed that the strike was limited to a one-day work stoppage, clarifying that it was not a call for civil disobedience or a protest against local governments.
The aim of the strike was to increase pressure on governments to take meaningful action to halt the Israeli escalation in Gaza. Events included work stoppages, the closure of commercial shops and demonstrations in front of embassies, with large participation from the Arab public and the international community.
Over the previous weekend, numerous pro-Palestine protests also took place calling for an immediate end to the genocide carried out by Israeli forces in Gaza since October 7, 2023.
The Follow-Up Committee of National and Islamic Forces in Gaza called for impactful and sustained action to pressure the Israeli occupation and its sponsors to stop the genocidal campaign against the people of Gaza.
In a statement, the forces issued "a call on behalf of every slaughtered child, every grieving woman, and every oppressed elder," urging the Arab and Islamic nations and all free people around the world to rise up globally in support of the Palestinian people in Gaza and to reject the US-backed massacres.
Several European cities also witnessed demonstrations in support of Palestine, condemning the atrocities in Gaza as among the worst forms of racism, and highlighting the deafening global silence surrounding Israel's crimes against civilians, women and children in the Strip. Many Palestine supporters have actively engaged with strike calls.
Actions were also held in the United States. In Washington DC thousands rallied in the heart of the US capital on April 5 to oppose Trump administration attacks on free speech and student activism, and demand an end to Israel's relentless genocidal onslaught against Gaza. Students, organisers, journalists, artists, and workers came to Washington, DC from across the country to call for the release of pro-Palestine students such as Mahmoud Khalil and Rumeysa Ozturk from ICE detention and to declare their fearlessness in the face of Trump's attacks.
(TML)