ARABA, Israel (AFP) – Arab Israelis staged a general strike on Thursday to protest what organisers called "racist" policies and to mark the ninth anniversary of demonstrations at which police killed 13 Arabs.

The strike culminated in a rally in the northern Israel village of Araba, where thousands of people chanted "with our blood, with our souls, we will protect you Palestine."

A woman carried a picture of her young son who died in October 2000 when Israeli police killed 13 Arab Israelis who took part in protests that broke out days after the Palestinian uprising, or intifada, started.

"The government is run by gangsters, not statesmen," the 58-year-old said.

Stores, schools and other establishments were shuttered in predominantly Arab communities, including the Biblical city of Nazareth, and media reports said the strike was followed by about 90 percent of the Arab Israeli population.

Organisers said the strike was called "to protest the continuation and escalation of racism and incitement against Arabs" and in defence of Arab citizens' "right to exist and live in dignity in their historic homeland."

"In recent months, there has been a parallel situation of racist policies in parliament and greater condoning of violence towards Arab citizens by the police and courts," said Jafar Farah, who heads Mossawa, an Arab-Israeli advocacy group.

"This attitude is feeding down to the streets," he said.

Israel's Arab community makes up around 20 percent of the country's population of seven million. It is descended from the 160,000 Palestinians who remained in the Jewish state after its creation in 1948.

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