By: Marah Mahdi
It all started when Ishaq Rabin had announced Israel’s “Galilee Improvement Project” to confiscate Palestinian lands in order to build colonial settlements in 1975. They really started. On February 29th, 1976, 21,000 acres were illegally taken over by Israeli Occupation Forces in the areas of Sekhineen, Arrabah, Dier Hanna, and Arab Swaed. Later.
Meanwhile, the Land Defense Committee held a meeting on December 18th, 1975 in Al-Nassera city and announced that 30th March 1976 will be a general strike in all of Palestine. It was a peaceful reaction against the Israeli violations of confiscating Palestinian lands.
A day before the strike, the Israeli Occupation Forces started a curfew, prevented all kinds of peaceful protests that were held by Palestinians, and threatened to shoot whoever tried to protest.
However, Palestinians had to protect their lands. They protested peacefully, yet they were faced with Israeli occupation tanks, live bullets, and bombs. By the command of the Israeli commander Refa’el Eatian, many Palestinians were shot down and 6 were murdered:
Khair Yassin, 23, from Arabba
Khadija Qassem Shawahna, 23, from Sakhnin
Raja Hussein Abu Rayya, 23, from Sakhnin
Khader Eid Mahmoud Khalaileh, 30, from Sakhnin
Mohsen Hassan Syed Taha, 15, from Kafr Kanna.
Raafat Ali Zuhdi, 21, from Nour Shams camp
Those were just simple Palestinians who defended their lands peacefully. Yet, they were killed.
On that day, many confrontations happened; a sone against a tank, a smile against a bullet, a soldier against an unarmed child, the right against injustice, and bomb against the voice of the right of return. This is Palestine. We can’t live this way. Israel has killed, arrested, hurt, threatened, and frightened a Palestinian, at least, in every house.
Since then, Land Day became a national annual day for all Palestinians to celebrate by dancing Dabkah, wearing Palestinian Thoub which is a traditional custom, cooking traditional dishes, and protesting peacefully against the occupation.
However, the UN adopts resolution 194 (III), resolving that “refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible.”
Therefore, Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip launched, on 30 March 2018, the Great March of Return which called Palestinians to protest against the siege dividing Gaza from the rest of Palestine. It was a simple peaceful protest to insist on the right of return, which was supposed to be executed ages ago.
Though it was peaceful, 277 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli Occupation Forces, and thousands have got injured. This is so unfair!
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