Dozens of teenage protesters blocked traffic on Tel Aviv’s Ayalon Highway and set fire to classroom desks Sunday morning, demanding a general strike ahead of the start of the academic year.

Demonstrators held a banner reading: “We will not learn to live with this. Strike now!” as smoke billowed from the three burning desks, bringing most cars to a halt on the highway.

Police arrested two protesters, a 17-year-old boy and a 35-year-old woman, on suspicion of disorderly conduct. They were freed in the afternoon from the police station on the condition that they steer clear of unlawful protests for the next two weeks.

Officers also detained around 20 high school demonstrators during the protest, releasing them on the spot after taking down their details, said lawyer Gonen Ben-Yitzhak, who does pro bono work for detained anti-government activists.

The protest was held a day before the start of the new academic year, which students from dozens of high schools across the country have pledged to boycott, refusing to return to classes Monday morning in light of the continuation of the Gaza war and the government’s perceived........

© The Times of Israel