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Land Day

This day in Palestine...

Land Day, 30 March

A poster commemorating the 9th anniversary of Land Day, 30 March, published in 1985. [Source: Wikipedia]

A poster commemorating the 9th anniversary of Land Day, 30 March, published in 1985. [Source: Wikipedia]

Land Day is an annual day of commemoration for Palestinians of the events of 30 March 1976. In response to the Israeli government's announcement of a plan to expropriate thousands of dunams of land for security and settlement purposes, a general strike and marches were organized in Arab towns from the Galilee to the Negev. In the ensuing confrontations with the Israeli army and police, six unarmed Arab citizens were killed, about one hundred were wounded, and hundreds of others arrested.

Scholarship on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict recognises Land Day as a pivotal event in the struggle over land and in the relationship of Arab citizens to the Israeli state and body politic. It is significant in that it was the first time since 1948 that Arabs in Israel organised a response to Israeli policies as a Palestinian national collective. An important annual day of commemoration in the Palestinian national political calendar ever since, it is marked not only by Arab citizens of Israel, but also by Palestinians all over the world.

Further information available here on Wikipedia >>

See also What is Palestine’s Land Day?, by Ali Abunimah, Electronic Intifada, 30 March 2014