Palestinians across the occupied West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Israel are expected on Friday to mark the 47th anniversary of the Land Day, in which six Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces while demonstrating against the seizure of their land in 1976. For the last 47 years, Palestinians have commemorated the deadly incident by holding marches in the occupied West Bank, the Gaza Strip and Arab villages throughout Israel. 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. The demonstrations first kicked off in the town of Deir Hanna, and was met by heavy brutality by Israeli police. This was followed by further protests in the town of Arrabeh, 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. The Land Day is of special significance to the Palestinians because it was the first time since 1948 that Palestinians in Israel organized a collective response to Israeli policies. It is marked not only by Palestinians within historical Palestine, but also by Palestinians all over the world.
Source: Palestine News & Information Agency