Arab towns and villages in Israel witnessed a general strike on Wednesday, in reaction to the massacre committed by the Israeli occupation forces against the participants of the “peaceful march of return” in the Gaza Strip, which killed 62 Palestinians. Thousands of citizens marched towards the Arab city of Sakhnin, where several speakers delivered speeches protesting the Israeli policies. “These activities are carried out in the name of 1.5 million Palestinian Arabs in Israel who stand by their people and say: ‘As long as you are on the front line with the occupation, we are with you,’” said Mohamed Baraka, head of the Arab Higher Follow-up Committee. “Today we commemorate the 70th anniversary of Deir Yassin massacre. Unfortunately, the approach that prevailed during the massacre in Deir Yassin is the same of that in Gaza,” he added. “The Palestinian Cause is going through one of the most dangerous and crucial stages, because there are obvious conspiracies and open attempts to liquidate the rights of this people and to assassinate their cause,” said Mazen Ghanaim, head of the National Committee of Mayors. In response to these activities, Amir Ohana, a far-right member of the Likud party asked the minister of defense, Avigdor Lieberman, to outlaw the Higher Arab Follow-up Committee on the grounds that it supports the so-called “enemies of Israel.” Israeli police tried to confront several marches in Arab towns and arrested four young men, who participated in a demonstration in Haifa, while three others were arrested near Kafr Manda. Police officers also attacked demonstrators and journalists, preventing them from covering the protests through arbitrary and provocative actions. The Follow-up Committee said that these measures “come in the context of the intimidation campaign by the Israeli police, in an attempt to curb any active youth movement in the territories of 1948, in light of the continuing protests against the massacre in Gaza.” In Gaza, Palestinians are preparing to launch massive marches on Friday under the title of “Friday of Loyalty to Martyrs and Prisoners”, after two days of cautious calm that followed a bloody day, in which Israel killed 63 Palestinians on the border with the Gaza Strip. The Follow-up Committee of the National and Islamic Forces in Gaza urged the Palestinians to participate in Friday’s mass rallies, stressing the continuation of the “return marches.” The Committee added that another march will be held on June 5 to commemorate the occupation of Jerusalem in 1967.