Palestine Land Day: Palestinians face myriad challenges but hold fast to their rights

Palestinian citizens of Israel are commemorating the 47th anniversary of Land Day, affirming their connection to their identity and to the land of Palestine, which remains at the heart of their struggle and the core of the fight against the Israeli occupation.

On 30 March 1976, hundreds of Palestinians, mostly from villages in the Galilee region, marched in protest against Israel's decision to seize thousands of dunums of Palestinian land that belonged to the villages Sakhnin, Arraba, Deir Hanna, as part of a drive to "Judaise the Galilee".

According to eyewitness accounts from Sakhnin, Arraba and Deir Hanna, that day, the Israeli army transformed residential neighbourhoods into a battlefield, using overwhelming aggression and violence against the unarmed demonstrators. Six demonstrators were killed, and hundreds were injured.  

"Part of the enduring significance of 'Land Day' is because this was the first act of collective civil disobedience by Palestinians against Israel's racist colonisation policies"

Those killed by Israeli forces that day were Khair Yassin (23), Raja Abu Raya (23), Mohsen Taha (15), Khader Khalayleh (30), Raafat al-Zuhairi (21), and Khadija Shawahna (23).

Enduring significance 

Part of the enduring significance of "Land Day" is that this was the first act of collective civil disobedience by Palestinians against Israel's racist colonisation policies – which hinged on the dispossession of Palestinians of their land and rights – since Israel's creation in 1948.

More importantly, though, on that day in 1976, Palestinians – referred to as "Israeli Arabs" by Israel – declared themselves an inseparable part of the Palestinian people and their struggle.

Mahmoud Mi'ari is a retired social sciences professor from Birzeit University. He spoke to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, The New Arab's Arabic-language sister edition about the symbolism of Land Day and the role it can play in bolstering the sense of identity of Palestinian citizens of Israel: "On this day (in 1976), hundreds of Palestinian Arabs in the Galilee took part in demonstrations against military rule and against the decision to confiscate land in the Galilee […] by commemorating Land Day an important subject is raised – that of identity and belonging."

Mi'ari says a number of opinion polls have indicated that "Palestinian identity has started to wane in the last decade, and a growing wave of Israelification is underway."

In light of this, he adds, "it is necessary to work on consolidating the Palestinian Arab identity among Palestinians inside Israel, through promoting […] our collective memory of vital junctures of Palestinian history, like the Nakba, and Land Day, and others." He believes the powerful legacy of Land Day can play a role in this process.

This year Land Day's commemoration occurs as the Zionist principle of "more land with less Arabs" is being applied in full view: the Israeli government continues its policies of confiscation, home demolitions and displacement, alleging "unauthorised construction" as an excuse to demolish homes, and refusing to recognise Palestinian ownership over lands passed down the generations before the Nakba in 1948 to justify confiscation.

Challenges today

On the political implications for Palestinian citizens of Israel, Mohannad Mustafa, professor of political science and director of Mada Carmel, said: "This year, Land Day coincides with huge challenges facing Palestinians in Israel, first and foremost the plans of the Israeli right to advance the Judaization of the Galilee and the Negev, because this right-wing [government] sees deepening the settlement of these areas as equally important to the settlement project in the West Bank."

"Land Day invokes the importance of collective organising and a collective project, and the capacity to do political work collectively"

He explained that the Israeli right-wing framed the process as "re-establishing sovereignty" over these areas, "which requires establishing new Jewish communities, especially in the Negev, and reducing the Palestinian presence" in them.

He adds that extremist settlers are also being encouraged to move to what is known as the "mixed cities", like Lod, Ramle and Akka, in an Israeli drive to intensify the Judaization of the coastal cities.

Mustafa points out that this year Land Day happens as the Palestinian community in Israel faces severe difficulties organising itself.

He emphasises that "Land Day invokes the importance of collective organising and a collective project, and the capacity to do political work collectively – all this is absent from the current scene where we see a discourse instead promoting integration and the abandonment of a national project."

He says the cultural importance of Land Day needs to be re-established, in its political, organisational and intellectual aspects, which is a "huge challenge, in light of the current political fragmentation and absence of collective organising."

Today, 30 March, is Land Day in Palestine. This is a photo of Land Day protests in Nazareth in 1979. The banner reads: “In Hebron and the Galilee, one people, one struggle.” pic.twitter.com/speNdogqSE

— Nadi Abusaada (@NadiSaadeh) March 30, 2023

Historian Johnny Mansour also emphasised the importance of Land Day's legacy: "The struggle over the land has not stopped. Indeed, the conflict of the Palestinians with Israel and the Zionist movement throughout history has centred on the land at its core.

"The Nakba took place in 1948 when the Zionist militia gangs carried out the biggest ethnic cleansing operation which the region has known, expelling nearly 800,000 Palestinians and seizing their lands."

"And the Israeli government hasn't stopped," he says: "It continues to expropriate the land of those Palestinians who remained in their homeland, under the pretext of "development" or "for the public good."

"Land day symbolises the refusal of Palestinians, both in and outside Palestine, to let go of their right to live in, and for, their homeland"

"But it's clear that successive governments have strived to whittle down what remains of a Palestinian presence in the [Palestinian] homeland," he says, emphasising: "Land day symbolises the refusal of Palestinians, both in and outside Palestine, to let go of their right to live in, and for, their homeland."

This is an edited translation from our Arabic edition with additional reporting. To read the original article click here.

Translated by Rose Chacko

This article is taken from our Arabic sister publication, Al-Araby Al Jadeed and mirrors the source's original editorial guidelines and reporting policies. Any requests for correction or comment will be forwarded to the original authors and editors.

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