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.
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. |