Palestinians Commemorate Land Day

Sunday marked Land Day in Palestine and around the world.  Land Day is an annual commemoration of the events of March 30, 1976, when the Israeli army and police killed six unarmed Palestinian protesters and injured 96 others during a peaceful protest in the Galilee.  More than 300 people were also arrested in the demonstration opposing the Israeli authorities’ seizure of 5,500 acres as « closed military zones. »

Thirty-three years later, Palestinians in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza commemorated the day with hundreds of events.  In Hebron, police attacked demonstrators while women’s groups rallied in East Jerusalem.  The people of Gaza planted trees across the broken territory, leaving seeds of hope for the next generation and sending a message to the world that they are determined to renew and rebuild.