RAMALLAH, April 1 (Xinhua) -- A strike took place across the West Bank on Wednesday in protest against the approval of a law by the Israeli parliament that would allow the execution of Palestinian prisoners convicted of "terrorism."
Shops, markets, schools, universities, banks, and public offices have been closed, and transportation lines have been stopped due to the strike called by the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah).
Palestinians protested in Ramallah's streets, chanting "No to the racist law to execute prisoners" and rallying at Al-Manara Square in the city center against the law.
"Through today's strike, we wanted to send a message to the international community, and we hope to see serious action to stop these crimes," Sabri Saidam, deputy secretary of the Fatah Central Committee, told Xinhua on the sidelines of the demonstration.
Israel's parliament on Monday approved a bill making the death penalty the default punishment for Palestinians in the West Bank convicted of "terrorism," a move that has drawn international criticism.
Proposed by Israel's far-right coalition government, the new law mandates the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis with the intent to harm the state. It does not apply to Israelis who kill Palestinians.
Saidam said that with this law, the entire Palestinian people are targeted.
"The occupation government has an insatiable appetite for implementing racist laws aimed at displacing the Palestinian people, based on the conviction that displacement will allow Israel to control the land, end the Palestinian presence, and control and ultimately kill the Palestinian cause," he said.
Wasel Abu Yousef, coordinator of the Palestinian factions in the West Bank, told Xinhua that the law is "a racist, terrorist law that is completely unacceptable and violates international law and UN resolutions."
"Israel's policies of liquidation against prisoners are ongoing. We are talking about 90 prisoners who have died in Israeli prisons since October 7, 2023, and these are only the known names," Abu Yousef said.
Abu Yousef pointed out that hundreds of prisoners are subjected to "torture, rape, and medical neglect, in addition to prisoners from the Gaza Strip who suffer from enforced disappearance."
The Palestinian leader called for concrete international action to establish mechanisms "to deter these crimes, not just reject the law."
Mustafa Barghouti, leader of the Palestinian National Initiative, told Xinhua that "the Knesset has no right whatsoever to impose laws on occupied people, and we are under Israeli occupation, and they have no right to impose this law."
"It is directed only against Palestinians," Barghouti said. "So it's a very clear, discriminatory law. And it is one of the ways Israel is trying to upgrade and upscale their oppression of the Palestinian people."
"The message that Israel sent through this law is that Israel has no intention to have a compromise with the Palestinians. They have no intention of peace. The only way for Palestinians in response to that is to struggle for our rights and for our freedom," he added.
Jerusalem resident Jamileh Abed also joined the protest. "It (the law) is against international law. It is against humanitarian law. It is against ethics," Abed told Xinhua, waving a Palestinian flag.
"We want people to stand up. We want all the international community and international institutions to say 'enough' to Israel. It's not impossible," Abed said.
Speaking of the future for Palestine, Abed said: "We are the people with roots here."
"No matter how much we lose, no matter what happens, we will remain on our land and Palestine will be free," she said. ■
