Palestinians commemorate 47th anniversary of Land Day
The demonstrators headed from the Al-Shuhada’ street to the Al-Shuhada’ graveyard waved Palestinian flags and chanted slogans that affirmed their right to their land and condemned the racist policies of hard-right Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Thousands of Palestinian citizens on Thursday took part in a massive rally to commemorate the anniversary of Palestine Land Day in Sakhnin city, north of 1948 Occupied Palestine.
In his speech at the rally, the head of the High Follow-up Committee in 1948 Occupied Palestine, Muhammad Baraka, said that “the Palestinian land is the core of our struggle” against Israel.
For his part, the head of the National Democratic Alliance, Sami Abu Shehada, affirmed that the Palestinian people and lands are repeatedly subjected to racist Israeli policies.
Moreover, the mayor of Sakhnin, Safwat Abu Raya, said that the Palestinian people have been commemorating Land Day for decades to honor the sacrifices of the Palestinian martyrs who were killed in 1976, stressing that the Palestinians will follow the footsteps of the martyrs.
The Palestinian Land Day refers to the events of March 1976 in which six Palestinian citizens were shot dead by Israeli forces while demonstrating against Israel’s confiscation of their land in the Galilee region.
On March 30, 1976, thousands of Palestinians in the northern Galilee region demonstrated against the seizure by Israel of large tracts of Arab land, prompting Israeli troops to use lethal force, killing six Palestinians.
At that time, demonstrations first kicked off in the town of Deir Hanna, and were met by heavy brutality by Israeli police. They were followed by further protests in the town of Arraba, in the Galilee region, during which one Palestinian was killed and dozens more injured by Israeli forces.
The extrajudicial killing triggered widespread demonstrations and violent clashes with Israeli forces in a number of other Arab towns and villages, in which the forces shot and killed six Palestinians.
For the last 47 years, Palestinians have been commemorating the deadly events by holding marches in the occupied West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Arab villages in occupied territories.