1976 - Origins of Land Day

AMMAN: Land Day, observed annually on March 30, commemorates a pivotal moment in Palestinian history when, in 1976, six unarmed Palestinian citizens of Israel were killed by Israeli forces during protests against government expropriation of Arab-owned land in the Galilee. 

This event not only marked the first mass mobilization of Palestinians within Israel since 1948, it also underscored their enduring struggle over land rights and identity. 

The original Land Day protests on March 30, 1976, were triggered by the Israeli government’s plans to confiscate about 20,000 dunams (2,000 hectares) of land in the Galilee region of northern Israel. The land targeted for expropriation, in villages such as Sakhnin, Arraba and Deir Hanna, was owned predominantly by Palestinian citizens of Israel. 

This large-scale confiscation of land was part of a broader Israeli policy, “Judaization of the Galilee,” which aimed to increase the Jewish population in the region and reduce the proportion of Arab-owned land.

Land Day also reflected an unresolved historical injustice. During the Nakba in 1948, two predominantly Christian Palestinian villages in northern Israel, Iqrit and Biram, were forcibly depopulated. The Israeli army promised the residents, who had become Israeli citizens and have continued to live in Israel, that they would be able to return to their homes after a brief evacuation they said was necessary for security reasons. However, they were never allowed to return; instead, the villages were destroyed and lands expropriated by the Israeli state. 

The villagers of Iqrit and Biram, and their descendants, continue to campaign for their right to return, and the two lost villages remain enduring symbols of the broader Palestinian fight for land rights.

The significance of Land Day extends beyond the events of 1976. The annual commemoration serves as a reminder of the deep-rooted connection between the Palestinian people and their ancestral lands, a bond that has been continually threatened by Israeli policies designed to alter the historical demographic and geographic landscapes of Palestine. 

In the years since that first Land Day, the Israeli government has continued to implement policies that result in the appropriation of Palestinian land. These actions include the expansion of settlements in the West Bank, the construction of the separation barrier, and the designation of state land in areas traditionally used by Palestinian communities.  

The response to these policies has been multifaceted, encompassing legal challenges, grassroots activism and international advocacy. 

Palestinian citizens of Israel, alongside those in the occupied territories and the diaspora, have utilized Land Day as a platform through which to highlight issues of land dispossession and call for justice and equality. The day has become a unifying event, fostering solidarity among Palestinians across geographic and political divides. 

However, the challenges remain formidable. The Israeli legal and political system often favors the interests of the state and settlers, making it difficult for Palestinians to reclaim confiscated land or to prevent further expropriations.

Israeli laws have facilitated settlement expansions, provided legal protections to settlers, and enabled land appropriation, often at the expense of Palestinian rights. The Legal and Administrative Matters Law of 1970, for example, enacted after the annexation of East Jerusalem in 1967, permits Jewish individuals to reclaim properties that were owned by Jews in that area before 1948, even if Palestinians have lived there for decades since then. However, Palestinians are not granted the same right to reclaim properties they owned in West Jerusalem, or elsewhere in Israel, before the 1948 war. 

The Sheikh Jarrah evictions of 2021, a catalyst for the 11-day war between Palestinians and Israelis that year, showed how Palestinian communities remain under threat of eviction in East Jerusalem under Israeli laws. The Israeli Supreme Court ruled in favor of settlers when it decided that Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah could remain there only if they paid rent to settlers, effectively recognizing the settlers’ claims of ownership of properties before 1948. 

Moreover, international responses to such developments often have been limited to statements of concern, with little in the way of tangible action in an attempt to hold Israeli authorities accountable for their policies, including those related to the issues of land expropriation, illegal settlements and displacement. 

In recent years, Land Day has taken on additional layers of meaning, particularly in the context of the Great March of Return protests that began in 2018 in the Gaza Strip. These demonstrations, which called for the right of return for Palestinian refugees and an end to the blockade of Gaza, met with significant violence from Israeli forces, resulting in numerous casualties.

Furthermore, the actions of Palestinian citizens of Israel in Galilee have failed to produce a genuine reckoning within Israeli society of the historical and ongoing injustices perpetrated against those Palestinians. This includes a failure to acknowledge the systemic discrimination and dispossession that have characterized state policies, or to work toward achieving genuine equality and reconciliation. 

The events of 1976, which marked the first mass Palestinian mobilization since 1948, underscored the power of solidarity across political, religious and ideological divides. This unity has remained a cornerstone of the struggle, reinforcing the idea that only through collective efforts can discriminatory policies be effectively challenged and rights asserted. 

The lessons of Land Day also emphasize the importance of strategic and persistent resistance, locally and internationally. The global attention garnered by the protests in 1976 showcased the significance of peaceful, organized activism in amplifying the Palestinian cause. It also underscored the necessity of political mobilization to address systemic discrimination and secure equal rights. 

For Palestinians in Israel and beyond, Land Day is an occasion that encapsulates both the pain of loss and the hope for a future in which peace and justice prevails. 

• Daoud Kuttab is a columnist for Arab News, specializing in Middle Eastern, and more specifically, Palestinian affairs. He is the author of the book “State of Palestine NOW: Practical and logical arguments for the best way to bring peace to the Middle East.”