The Palestinians commemorate the 47th anniversary of Land Day
Today, the Palestinians commemorate the 47th anniversary of Land Day, affirming their eternal right to their land, the historic land of Palestine, their adherence to every inch of its soil, and their continued struggle to confront the Israeli occupation’s attempts to uproot them from it and judaize it. They also stress their right to restore all their national rights, foremost of which is the right to return to their homes.
The events of Land Day date back to March 30, 1976, when the Palestinians protested against the Israeli occupation’s seizure of 21,000 dunums of land in the Galilee region in the 1948 occupied territories, to establish more settlements, and implement its plan to Judaize the Galilee and empty it of the Palestinian presence.
On this day, the general strike and demonstrations prevailed in the cities and villages of Galilee and the Triangle, and the occupation forces brutally suppressed the Palestinians, which led to the death of a number of them and the wounding and detention of hundreds.
The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics revealed in its report on the occasion of Land Day that the Israeli occupation controls more than 85 percent of the Palestinian lands and continues to expand settlement operations, demolish Palestinian homes and forcibly displace them with the aim of eliminating the Palestinian presence and implementing its Judaization plans.
Wasel Abu Youssef, a member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said: “The anniversary of Land Day is a national occasion to renew the pledge to continue the battle to defend the land for which the martyrs rise and the heroes are detained in the jails.”
Munther al-Hayek, spokesman for the Fatah movement, confirmed that this land has one name, the land of Palestine, and that the occupation’s attempts to obliterate the Palestinian existence and history are doomed to failure.
He said that today is witnessing the organization of activities and demonstrations in the Palestinian territories occupied in 1948, the West Bank, the besieged Gaza Strip and in the countries of diaspora in a message to remind the whole world of the ongoing massacres and crimes of the Israeli occupation.
In her turn, member of the Political Bureau of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Maryam Abu Daqqa explained that the 47th anniversary of Land Day comes this year in dangerous circumstances in light of the escalation of the occupation’s attacks to implement its plans to liquidate the Palestinian cause.
Abu Daqqa said: “We will not leave our land, and we will continue to sacrifice our blood and everything we possess for it, and we promise the martyrs to follow their steps in the path of resistance until the occupation is defeated and the Palestinian state is established.”
For his part, member of the Political Bureau of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Talal Abu Zarifa, stressed that the challenges facing the Palestinians require an escalation of resistance in order to restore rights, foremost of which is the right to self-determination and the right of refugees to return.
In his turn, member of the Political Bureau of the Palestinian People’s Party, Talaat Al-Safadi, explained that the Land Day was baptized with the blood of the Palestinians who fought in defense of their land in Galilee and the Triangle in the occupied territories of 1948.
The Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative Mustafa Al-Barghouti indicated that Land Day is the day of the unity of the Palestinian national struggle in Gaza, the West Bank, the occupied territories of 1948, and in the diaspora.
He stressed that the Palestinian people are facing a frenzied, systematic campaign launched by the occupation to control the land through expanding settlements and implementing annexation plans under the double standard policy of the internatiomal community.
O. al-Mohammad