Israeli Arabs call general strike Tuesday over house demolitions

NGO complains that State Comptroller report did not adequately address concerns about the Arab housing shortage.

By ARIEL BEN SOLOMON
Nazareth (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Nazareth
(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
The Arab Higher Monitoring Committee called for a general strike in the Arab sector on Tuesday to protest the government policy of house demolitions.
Schools and businesses in Israeli Arab localities should be closed, but it depends how strictly it is followed as in the past general strikes have been respected unevenly in different areas.
Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel – responded to the State Comptroller’s report issued in February with its own report published this month on the subject of the housing crisis in Israel. Adalah complained that the long Comptroller report did not adequately address concerns about the Arab housing shortage.
“As long as the state views the Arab minority’s interest as conflicting head-on with the Israeli Jewish majority’s interest, the State Comptroller's recommendations will not be able to solve the housing crisis for Arab citizens,” said the report.