Palestinian Land Day 2000

On 30 March, Palestinians commemorated the 24th anniversary of the violent Israeli repression of Palestinian protests against land expropriation in the Galilee in 1976, which resulted in six killed and more than 70 injured Palestinian demonstrators.
The leadership of the Palestinian community inside Israel called for a general strike to commemorate land day to protest ongoing expropriation of land and discrimination in planning, development, and allocation of financial resources for Palestinian localities in Israel. Large demonstrations were held throughout the 1967 occupied territories and inside 1948 Palestine/Israel. In Jerusalem, Palestinians protested at the site of a new Israeli settlement in the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Ras al- Amud. A demonstration was also held at al-Ram, the northern checkpoint to Jerusalem, which was been in place since Israel imposed a military closure in 1993, denying most Palestinians access to Jerusalem. Clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police and soldiers erupted throughout the West Bank, Gaza, and inside Israel.

In Sakhnin in the Galilee, Palestinians protested against the continuing confiscation of their land. Some 5,400 dunums land confiscated for so-called public purposes in 1964 is now being developed for the construction of a military base. According to Mustafa Abu Raya (Ha'aretz, 31/3/00), the mayor of Sakhnin, the 25,000 Palestinian residents of the town has access to 9,500 dunums of land as compared to the nearby Jewish regional council of Misgav with 10,000 residents has 180,000 dunums of land. Palestinian residents of Baka al-Gharbiya and Jat protested against the confiscation of land for construction of the Trans-Israel Highway. For the first time, protests were also held by three Druze communities inside Israel.

 

The following section of al Majdal provides a brief survey of land policies under the British Mandate and inside Israel after 1948.

Israel to Establish Military Outpost in the Galilee to Prevent Palestinian "Encroachment" on "Israel Lands" Despite the recent ruling of the Israel High Court against discrimination in the allocation of state land in Katzir (see page 16), the government
continues to implement plans aimed at denying Palestinian Israeli access to lands. The Israeli Defense Ministry is considering the establishment of a military outpost in the Wadi Ara area of the Galilee close to Palestinian localities. According to a report in the Israeli daily newspaper, Ha'aretz (31/3/00), the aim of the plan is to "contain the spread of illegal construction to state land in the area."

"We were in deep sleep, like unconscious, for years. Then they came, hit us on the head, and we woke up and remembered that we have lands." Palestinian high-school youth from Umm al-Fahm in an Israeli TV-report (25-2-2000) about the revival of Palestinian identity and nationalism triggered by the brutal police repression of the 1998 demonstrations against new land confiscation comprising some 18,000 dunums (4,500 acres) in Umm al-Fahm. The land was incorporated into an army firing range and declared a closed military area. Palestinian farmers were permitted to enter their lands only with special permits on weekends and required insurance to absolve Israeli forces of responsibility for potential injury. After an initial internal review cleared the Israeli police of all responsibility in January 2000, the investigation has been re-opened.