JERUSALEM, Sept 1 (Reuters) - The head of Israel’s biggest labour union called for a general strike on Monday to pressure Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to bring back Israeli hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza, as thousands of protesters took to the streets.

The call for a one-day general strike by Arnon Bar-David, whose Histadrut union represents hundreds of thousands of workers, was backed by Israel’s main manufacturers and entrepreneurs in the high-tech sector.

The alliance of some of the most powerful voices in Israel’s economy reflected the scale of public anger over the deaths, announced on Sunday, of six hostages among some 250 people seized by Hamas militants on Oct. 7 last year.

“We must reach a deal (on the return of the surviving hostages). A deal is more important than anything else,” Bar-David told a press conference. “We are getting body bags instead of a deal.”

  • Sundial@lemm.ee
    209·
    4 months ago

    Friendly reminder that the majority of Israel is ok with the genocidal campaign going on. This protest is just to prioritize the rescue of the hostages before slaughtering innocent civilians and international aid workers.

    • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
      157·
      4 months ago

      Something happened long before October 7th and Israeli society is apparently fundamentally broken. Before October 7th, I had Israelli friends and Palestinian friends and thought I understood that it was a long political impasse but that there were people on both sides that wanted peace. I know there are some on the Israeli side that want peace. I thought it was largely people who wanted peace and hawks in the way. But no. Its largely one voice in favor of genocide, be it fast or slow. I did not understand. I know now that I was wrong. And if those voices persist in Israel, they really need to speak the fuck up.

      • Sundial@lemm.ee
        124·
        4 months ago

        The whole country was founded on the ideal that they have an entitlement to the land regardless of the native population. There’s no doubt that some Israelis are kind and compassionate towards the Palestinian population, but they were always the minority.

        • TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world
          83·
          4 months ago

          Whoever is downvoting you is an idiot because:

          the ideal that they have an entitlement to the land regardless of the native population

          is literally the foundational idea of the political movement Zionism, which led to the founding of Israel.

          Its an ethnostate based on the colonial idea that one race or religion should be above others, in a legal/ political sense. In its foundation, Zionism advocated for and conducted violence against Arabs, Europeans, and Jews who resisted the idea of a Zionist ethnostate.

          King David Hotel bombing, 1946

          • SoJB@lemmy.mlEnglish
            29·
            4 months ago

            Never let liberals gaslight you into their fucked up “beliefs”.

            I remember when every lib on Lemmy was justifying the genocide, how self defense is a right.

            I remember when Biden said there was no genocide in Gaza.

            I remember when libs here got their new brain chip and pivoted to “well (((Hamas))) was in that hospital and school”.

            I remember when libs finally turned to “genocide? So what? You’re just a tankie, BLUE MAGA!”.

            I will never vote for a fucking liberal.

  • ravhall
    414·
    4 months ago

    Do you also acknowledge the genocide of Uyghurs by the CCP?

  • lennybird@lemmy.worldEnglish
    315·
    4 months ago

    So as news is coming out, do I have this right that Hamas shot these hostages in retaliation for Israel’s assassination of that top Hamas leader a few days ago?

    • Sundial@lemm.ee
      93·
      4 months ago

      I mean that’s what Israel is saying. Hamas is saying that these were the hostages that were due to be released as per the negotiation for a ceasefire. It’s honestly 50/50 as per who killed them.