RAMALLAH, West Bank — Popular protests in the West Bank and Arab cities in Israel against the sanctions and siege imposed on Gaza have been ongoing in tandem with the Great Return March. On July 3, protests were held simultaneously in Gaza, Haifa and Maroun al-Ras in Lebanon, under the banner “Palestinian Women Call for Return and Breaking the Siege.”
Several demonstrations protesting the sanctions imposed on Gaza were held in June, including June 20 in Bethlehem and in Ramallah June 23 with the participation of youths from Israel. On June 13, activists from the West Bank and Israel, including from Haifa, participated in a large protest in central Ramallah that Palestinian security forces violently dispersed.
The Great Return March, which kicked off along Gaza’s border with Israel on March 30, Land Day, and is still ongoing, spawned a youth movement in Haifa that has mobilized Arab citizens from Arab cities and towns to protest the siege on Gaza.
In Haifa on June 8 on Ben Gurion Boulevard, artists participated in “Gaza All the Way, Until the Day of Return.” On June 1, hundreds had gathered for “From Haifa to Gaza: United by Blood and a Shared Destiny,” a demonstration held at Basel al-Araj Square on Ben Gurion Boulevard. One earlier protest of note, held May 18, was dispersed by Israeli police, who clashed with protesters and controversially arrested 21 people.
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