All Arab businesses and shops in East Jerualem were closed today by a strike called in solidarity with Arab inmates of the central prison in Nablus who are protesting what they allege are overcrowded and otherwise deplorable conditions.
The strike was the first commercial stoppage in East Jerusalem to be fully effective. Recent calls by Palestinian nationalists for a general strike to observe the second anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps massacre and strike calls on other occasions over the past year had elicited only a partial response at best.
But today, the normally crowded bustling streets of East Jerusalem were practically empty. There were no merchants on hand and every shop was shut and barred. Relatives of the prison inmates continued their vigil outside the Red Cross offices for the 12th consecutive day.
There were no strike-related disturbances on the West Bank, except in Nablus where Arab youths threw rocks at shopkeepers who refused to close, indicating that the strike in that all-Arab town was not altogether effective.
Dr. Mordechai Wertheimer, Commissioner of Prisons, said today that he was willing to take measures to relieve overcrowding, but only after the inmates ended their hunger strike. But the hunger strike itself is selective. The inmates are taking some nourishment in the form of compressed food.
THREE-DAY CURFEW LIFTED
Meanwhile, the Israeli authorities have lifted the three-day curfew imposed on the Dahaishe refugee camp near Bethlehem after a series of rock-throwing incidents against passing Jewish vehicles. The camp’s entrances have been sealed, a measure intended to keep the inmates inside.
Jewish settlers were not satisfied. They claimed that sealing the camp would not prevent rock-throwing but would make it harder for them to chase rock-throwers inside the camp.
Shmuel Goren, the government coordinator for the administered territories, said everything possible was being done to reduce the incidence of stone throwing. He said sealing off the camp was an effective measure.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
