Amal Othman, Madison-Rafah Sister City Project, March 31, 2008
1. What does Land Day commemorate?
Land Day, known as 'Youm al-Ard' in Arabic, commemorates the bloody killing of six Palestinians in the Galilee on March 30, 1976 by Israeli troops during peaceful protests over the confiscation of Palestinian lands. It has since become a painful reminder of Israeli injustice and oppression against the Palestinian people, and a day for demonstration linking all Palestinians in their struggle against occupation, self-determination and national liberation.
2. What happened on Land Day?
Israeli authorities announced the confiscation of a total of 5,500 acres of land from Palestinian villages in the Galilee, and classified them as "closed military zones." The expropriated lands later fell subject to heavy illegal settlement expansion. The confiscation of land led Palestinians within the 1948 borders to hold a general strike of repudiation, protesting the expropriation and colonization of their land. Israeli army and police responded to the demonstrations with violence, killing 6 Palestinians, in addition to injuring 96 others and arresting over 300. Arab villages and towns were declared as closed military zones by the Israeli authorities and a curfew imposed on a number of them.
3. How Much Land has been confiscated by Israel since Land Day in 1976?
Since 1967 Israel has confiscated more than 750,000 acres of land from the 1.5 million acres comprising the West Bank and Gaza. Most of the land has been confiscated to make space for illegal settlement expansions, and bypass roads that are limited exclusively to Israeli settlers. In 1948 and the subsequent few years, Israel confiscated nearly 85 percent of the territory within the Green Line from Palestinians. Most of this land was taken from the 800,000 Palestinian refugees, who were evicted or fled for fear of massacres during the 1948 war.
4. Is land still being confiscated by Israel?
As we mark the 28th anniversary of Palestinian "Land Day," Israel's illegal settlement expansion and land confiscation continues unabated, even at a time in which the need for reconciliation, peace and justice is more pressing than ever before. Furthermore, the ongoing construction of the Israeli separation wall, which has been described by a UN report as a "creeping annexation", involves the confiscation of large amounts of fertile Palestinian land. The separation wall will annex 45% of the West Bank territory, leaving all Palestinians to live in 12% of historical Palestine. In the wall's first phase alone some 2850 acres of agricultural land were damaged.
5. How does Israel confiscate Palestinian Land?
In the areas occupied in 1967, Israel suffices itself with military orders, of which over 1300 have been issued so far, and which can be contested only with great difficulty. No cases of significance are known to have succeeded in reversing Israeli expropriation orders. For the end of confiscation of lands and properties falling within Israel the Knesset (Israeli parliament) passed dozens of laws facilitating that end, such as the The Absentee Property law and the Development Authority (Transfer of Property) Law.
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