Annual Anti-Israel ‘Land Day’ Protests Low-Key

This year’s annual anti-Israel Land Day demonstrations achieved scant attention and minimal participation, despite Israeli preparedness for violence.

Israeli Arabs on Sunday marked their annual “Land Day” – commemorating what they claim was the 1976 illegal seizure of Arab lands by the Israeli government – with relatively small demonstrations in the Galilee, the Negev and Jerusalem.

On March 30, 1976, six Israeli Arabs were killed in Galilee protests against the planned confiscation of land, most of which was not Arab-owned. Since then, “Land Day” has acquired an increasingly nationalist character, serving to cement the bonds between Israeli Arabs and those living in Judea and Samaria and the Gaza Strip. Palestinian flags were seen flying in Sakhnin, an Arab town located northeast of Tel Aviv.

Since the establishment of the modern Jewish state, Israel has maintained a policy of perpetuating a Jewish presence in the Galilee for security as well as symbolic reasons.

This year, Land Day organizers called for protests inside Israel, in territories controlled by the Palestinian Authority and in neighboring Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan.

Israeli Forces on High Alert

Rallying under the slogan of a global march to Jerusalem, protest organizers called for “freedom for Jerusalem and its people.”

While organizers said they would be peaceful, Israeli officials expressed concern that extremists, who had issued warnings of a third Intifada if more terrorists were not released from prison, could hijack the Land Day rallies.

As a result, Israeli forces were placed on high alert.

Israeli Police Chief Yohanan Danino urged leaders of the Arab community to prevent violence.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen Benny Gantz held special security assessments Friday with regional commanders along Israel’s borders in preparation for Sunday’s events.

The Israeli army said it would do whatever it took to protect its borders and residents.

Meanwhile, the Land Day protests were low-key, and many Israeli Arabs seemed unaware of the occasion. The main protest in northern Israel took place in the village of Arrabe, located in the Lower Galilee near Sakhnin. Protesters waved Palestinian flags and chanted as drums played in the background.

In eastern Jerusalem, some 70 demonstrators gathered outside the walls of the Old City by Damascus Gate, throwing stones and chanting slogans, according a spokeswoman for the Israeli Police department. She added that the protest was quickly broken up and one person was arrested.

Land Day Protesters Include Children and Foreign Activists

There were also several gatherings in the Gaza Strip, with scores of people attending a demonstration near the northern town of Jabaliya that was organized by the ruling Hamas terrorist group.

Among the Gaza crowd were youngsters wearing green baseball caps and makeshift tunics fashioned out of the Palestinian flag, who chanted slogans and held up banners reading: “We will return to our land, no matter how long it takes.”

Scattered Land Day demonstrations and sit-ins took place in Judea and Samaria, including in the southern city of Hebron, where foreign activists also attended.

Author: Gidon Ben-Zvi, contributor, United with Israel
Date: Mar. 31, 2014