March 30 in History
1976 –In the first organized response against Israeli policies by a Palestinian collective since 1948, Palestinians create the first Land Day
A day of commemoration for Arab citizens of Israel and Palestinians, Land Day was created on this day in 1976, in response to the Israeli government’s announcement of a plan to expropriate thousands of dunams of land for state purposes. A general strike and marches were organized in Arab towns from the Galilee to the Negev, and 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 recognizes 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 organized a response to Israeli policies as a Palestinian national collective.
An important annual day of commemoration in the Palestinian national political calendar ever since, the day is marked not only by Arab citizens of Israel, but also by Palestinians all over the world.
-Wikipedia
Photo Caption – A Palestinian woman and child at a Land Day rally in Beit Hanoun in the Gaza Strip – Wikipedia
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