EXPLAINER
Every year on March 30, Palestinians hold demonstrations and vigils and plant olive trees to declare their connection to the land.
Every year on March 30, Palestinians observe Land Day, or Yom al-Ard, remembering the occasions of March 30, 1976, when 6 unarmed Palestinians were eliminated and more than 100 hurt by Israeli forces throughout demonstrations versus Israel’s confiscation of Palestinian land.
Just how much land did Israel seize?
Israel purchased the confiscation of 2,000 hectares (4,942 acres) of land coming from Palestinian people of Israel in the Galilee. These strategies became part of Israeli state policy to Judaise Galilee following the development of the state of Israel.
The seized land is approximately the size of 3,000 football pitches or the location from the suggestion of Manhattan to Central Park in New York, United States.
What do Palestinians do on Land Day?
Palestinians, both inside Israel and throughout the occupied area, mark this day by holding demonstrations and vigils and planting olive trees to declare their connection to the land. The demonstrations are typically met ruthless usage of force by Israel.
Is Israel still taking land?
Yes, Israel has actually continued to take big swaths of Palestinian land, designating them as military zones, state land and other labels.
Most just recently, on March 22, 2024, Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stated Israel was taking 800 hectares (1,977 acres) in the occupied West Bank, in a relocation that would help with constructing more prohibited settlements.
“While there are those in Israel and on the planet who look for to weaken our right to Judea and Samaria and the nation in basic, we promote settlement through effort and in a tactical way all over the nation,” Smotrich stated, utilizing Biblical names for the location that are frequently heard in Israel.
Settlements– prohibited under worldwide law– are Jewish-only neighborhoods developed on Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
On March 6, Israel’s settlement-planning authority revealed it had actually authorized the building of some 3,500 brand-new real estate systems in Maale Adumim, Kedar and Efrat within the occupied West Bank.
From November 1, 2022 to October 31, 2023, Israel has actually authorized a minimum of 24,000 prohibited real estate systems to be constructed on Palestinian land.
Previously this month, the United Nations’ High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk stated settlements had actually broadened by a record quantity and ran the risk of getting rid of any possibility of a Palestinian state.