The Mayor of the Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona Naseem Malka has called for a college to expel Palestinian Israeli students who held a minute’s silence in memory of those killed by the Israeli army in the besieged Gaza Strip this week.

“I see this very seriously, and I will not allow Tel Hai College to turn into Birzeit University, anyone who goes out against the state, against the soldiers of the army and against the citizens of the state, should look for another place to study,” Malka was quoted as saying by Haaretz on Tuesday.

“I call on the heads of the college to expel these students from the college. Those who support the saboteurs have no place with us.”

A strike was held across Arab towns in Israel on Tuesday in protest against the brutal killing of 62 unarmed Palestinians who were demonstrating against the transfer of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, calling for their right of return and an end to the 11-year siege on the Strip.

Read: Israel denies West Bank medical team entry to Gaza

Shops and schools closed as part of the strike and protests were held in many cities.

Washington chose 14 May as the date of the inauguration of its embassy in occupied Jerusalem by way of celebrating Israel’s Independence Day which is celebration on that day. Palestinians see this as their Nakba when nearly a million were forced out of their homes and made refugees in preparation for the formation of the “Jewish” state.