Israeli-Arabs marched throughout Israel Friday in observance of the 31st anniversary of the 1976 Arab riots against Israeli development of the Galilee.
In Sakhnin, thousands took part in a large march. Smaller ones took place in Taibe, as well as in PA-assigned areas near Tul Karem and Ramallah.
Illegal Bedouin towns in the Negev also took part in the marches, joined by left-wing Jewish groups and international activists. They demanded Israel stop trying to develop Jewish towns in the Negev – a policy embraced even by prominent left-wing figures like Vice-Premier Shimon Peres.
The Israeli-Arab Monitoring Committee said this year’s Land Day observances are protesting the “stealing of land from Arab villages, and the prevention of their expansion.” The group also demanded that Israel begin negotiating with the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority immediately.
Israel’s police agreed to keep their distance from the Land Day protests after engaging in negotiations with Arab municipalities and Islamic leaders. They did station officers near major roads to ensure that highways were not blocked or cars attacked by rioters.
Left-wing icon Tali Fatima, placed in administrative detention for her close ties with terror-chief Zakariya Zubeidi and later released, made an appearance at the Sakhnin event, along with many of Israel’s Arab Knesset members.
Sakhnin Mayor Mohammad Bashir issued a demand from the podium that land upon which Jewish towns are built in the area be returned to the Arab nation, “its rightful owner.”
Land Day Comes to Gush Etzion
Just a few hundred meters from the Gush Etzion town of Efrat, another Land Day protest took place.
In Sakhnin, thousands took part in a large march. Smaller ones took place in Taibe, as well as in PA-assigned areas near Tul Karem and Ramallah.
Illegal Bedouin towns in the Negev also took part in the marches, joined by left-wing Jewish groups and international activists. They demanded Israel stop trying to develop Jewish towns in the Negev – a policy embraced even by prominent left-wing figures like Vice-Premier Shimon Peres.
The Israeli-Arab Monitoring Committee said this year’s Land Day observances are protesting the “stealing of land from Arab villages, and the prevention of their expansion.” The group also demanded that Israel begin negotiating with the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority immediately.
Israel’s police agreed to keep their distance from the Land Day protests after engaging in negotiations with Arab municipalities and Islamic leaders. They did station officers near major roads to ensure that highways were not blocked or cars attacked by rioters.
Left-wing icon Tali Fatima, placed in administrative detention for her close ties with terror-chief Zakariya Zubeidi and later released, made an appearance at the Sakhnin event, along with many of Israel’s Arab Knesset members.
Sakhnin Mayor Mohammad Bashir issued a demand from the podium that land upon which Jewish towns are built in the area be returned to the Arab nation, “its rightful owner.”
Land Day Comes to Gush Etzion
Just a few hundred meters from the Gush Etzion town of Efrat, another Land Day protest took place.
Efrat in the background of Land Day protest
(Photo: Nadia Matar)
(Photo: Nadia Matar)
PLO flags were draped over a building along the Efrat-Tekoa road, as scores of local Arabs from the village of Um Salamuna were joined by left-wing Jews and internationals in protesting the Partition Wall.
The protesters began at the wall, but marched to the closest Arab structure to Efrat, calling for the removal of the “illegal colony of Efrat.”
Efrat, the largest town in Gush Etzion aside from the city of Beitar Illit, continues to employ dozens of residents of Um Salamuna.
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