Newspapers review: Large-scale strike denouncing nation-state law focus of dailies

The large-scale strike held in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the Palestinian towns of Israel in denunciation of Israel’s Nation-State Law, widely criticized as enshrining apartheid into law, dominated the front page headlines in Palestinian Arabic dailies on Tuesday.

Al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida reported that Palestinians held a general strike in the homeland and diaspora in denunciation of Israel’s Jewish Nation-State Law.

The dailies added that Israeli forces cracked down on rallies protesting the law in the West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip, injuring dozens of protestors.

Al-Ayyam printed photos for confrontations with Israeli forces at the northern entrance of the West Bank city of al-Bireh and north of Beit Lahia town in the Gaza Strip.

Al-Quds and al-Hayat al-Jadida printed a photo for a similar protest in the Palestinian town of Jatt in Israel, while al-Hayat al-Jadida had another photo showing shops closed and bust streets brought to a standstill in the southern West Bank city of Hebron.

Additionally, al-Quds reported that Israeli Jewish settlers went on a rampage in the East Jerusalem neighborhoods of al-Musrara and al-Wad, assaulting Palestinian residents and damaging Palestinian-owned vehicles and property.

Settlers reportedly did so as they marked the end of the Jewish Succot holiday.   

Al-Ayyam and al-Hayat al-Jadida said in this regard that settlers held provocative rallies in East Jerusalem and forced their way in flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

Moreover, al-Quds said that deadline set by Israeli occupation authorities for Palestinian residents to vacate their village of Khan al-Ahmar and demolish their own houses has expired.

The dailies also highlighted the funeral procession of Mohammed Zaghloul al-Rimawi in his hometown of Beit Rima, northwest of Ramallah.

The body of al-Rimawi, 24, who died after being brutally assaulted and repeatedly beaten by Israeli forces inside his family home on September 18, was returned by Israeli authorities to his family after being held for 13 days.

Yet, al-Quds said that Israeli forces cracked down on a rally in the northern Gaza Strip, injuring 93 protestors with live ammunition and tear gas bombs.

According to al-Ayyam, 11 fires broke out in Israeli settlements in Gaza periphery as a result of incendiary balloons launched by Palestinians from the besieged coastal enclave.

Al-Quds also reported that Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian farmers picking olives in Azzun town, south of Tulkarem, and that Israeli forces conducted a renewed raid into Nahalin village, southwest of Bethlehem.

Regarding efforts to lift Israeli-imposed blockade on Gaza, al-Quds reported Hamas affirming continuous contacts to break the blockade and setting three parameters to achieve reconciliation.

Regarding media reports indicating that Norway was mediating a prisoner swap deal between Hamas and Israel, al-Quds reported well-informed Palestinian sources stating that the issue of reaching such a deal is not on the table of Egypt-sponsored Hamas-Fatah talks.

Al-Ayyam reported in this regard an Israeli source denying Norway was mediating such a deal.

According to al-Ayyam, the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) withdrew some of its employees from the Gaza Strip after they were “subject to harassment”.

Al-Quds and al-Ayyam said that UNRWA Employees Union is holding a two-day general strike starting from Tuesday at the UN relief agency’s facilities in protest of its policies with regards to imminent layoffs.

It printed a translation for Xinhua’s analysis Washington’s pro-Israel bias adds complication to resolve Palestinian-Israeli conflict: analysts.

According to al-Ayyam, PLO Secretary General Saeb Erekat sent an official letter to the UN Secretary General António Guterres urging him to list Israel as a state that violates children’s rights.

Furthermore, Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki was reported in al-Hayat al-Jadida stating that the speech delivered by President Mahmoud Abbas at the UN General Assembly “complements his vision on the peace process” and “we are establishing international terms of reference to achieve ]Abbas’[ vision.”

It also reported Member of the PLO Executive Committee Azzam al-Ahmad blaming the intra-Palestinian division to regional and international interventions to which Hamas has yielded.