Israel Arabs call nationwide strike after Bedouin deaths

RAHAT, Israel - Agence France-Presse

Arab-Israeli Bedouins take part in the funeral of Sami al-Zayadna, 47, in the southern Bedouin city of Rahat on January 19, 2015. AFP Photo

Leaders of Israel's 1.7 million Arabs declared a general strike throughout the country on Jan. 20 in protest at the recent deaths of two Bedouin men in confrontations with police.Former member of parliament Taleb al-Sana, chairman of an umbrella organisation of Arab Israeli groups, said schools and businesses would close from the Galilee in the north to the Negev desert in the south."The general strike today is to send a strong message that the entire Arab community... strongly protests the murders of two citizens of the state of Israel whose only crime is being Arab," Sana, who is himself Bedouin, told Israeli army radio.Sami al-Jaar, 22, died of a gunshot wound last week during a police drug raid on the Negev Bedouin town of Rahat.Police have opened an enquiry to determine if the shot was fired by officers or townspeople.During Jaar's funeral on Sunday, Sami al-Zayadna, 47, died of a heart attack during clashes in which police fired tear gas.Following Zayadna's burial on Monday, angry protesters -- some of them masked -- hurled stones at the Rahat police station, police said.Police said five suspected stone-throwers were detained and more arrests were expected.Officials in Rahat and in the northern Israeli town of Umm el-Fahm said schools were closed and shops were shuttered on Tuesday.Arab students at Tel Aviv University staged a protest outside the campus fence, drawing jeers and angry retorts from Jewish passers-by, according to Israeli public radio.Other media reported a similar protest by university students in the northern city of Haifa. Residents of Rahat have been on strike since Sunday.