Click here for our Book with historical documentation on Land Day (PDF)
The High Follow up committee for Arab citizens has declared a general strike for the whole of the public sector in the Arab community in Israel for Land Day. The Palestinian National movement is commemorating Land Day all over the world. The events of Land Day took place on March 30th, 1976 in response to land confiscation of over 21,000 Dunams of Arab owned land in the Galilee. The General strike in 1976, declared by the committee of land defense, was peaceful but Israeli security forces tried to prevent the strike and as a consequence 6 Arab citizens were killed during the clashes.
The strike today is taking place following the ongoing confliscation of Arab owned land since 1950.Currently, the Israeli government has discriminatory policy that restricts city planning and allocation of land for expansion. This policy has resulted in a housing crisis in many Arab cities and localities. Housing prices have skyrocketed and thousands of families are moving to Jewish localities or mixed cities such as Nazareth Illit or Haifa.
Further, The issue of recognition of land ownership in the unrecognized villages, especially in the Bedouin communities of the Negev, still exists and is today more important than ever before. This violation of the right to recognition is in parallel to the denial of the right to land in the Bedouin community, which has been marginalized and uprooted by state institutions since the establishment of the state. The Bedouin community in the Negev is discriminated against not only by state institutions but they have also been targeted by extremist far right wing settler institutions since 1995. “Regavim”, a radical settler NGO, founded by MK Betzalel Smotrich and other right wing CSO’s are pressuring state institutions to carry out home demolitions. One of the leaders of the settler movement and the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, MK Uri Ariel, is heading a governmental committee with the mission to implement and ensure law enforcement in the Bedouin community and evacuation of villages such as the “Um El Hiran” or “Al-Araqib” which has been demolished and rebuilt over 95 times.
The struggle for recognition and capcity building is gaining more and more importance because of our communities’ lack of documentation on the historical struggle for our rights. There is a lack of Arab educational institutions such as colleges, universities and research centers that could document the processes and the outcomes of the struggle for land and development. This has resulted in policy strategies missing from the struggle of the Arab minority. The Palestinian community needs a unified and effective public struggle that leads to the release of the many Dunams of land, which have been confiscated and that encourages the Arab community to build and invest in institutions that can help achieve recognition of the unrecognized villages in the Gallillee and Negev.
On this day of commemoration it is important to remember that the struggle for the rights of Arab citizens in Israel continues today. The Arab community faces discrimination on a daily basis from a variety of sources. Please click the link below to see Mossawa’s recent paper on the current issues the Arab community is facing today and recommendations for action from the international community.
Paper on policies of discrimination against the Arab community
Click here for our Book with historical documentation on Land Day (PDF)
