Land Day inaugurated, 30 March 1976   [59 x 131 cm]

Embroidery: Haneeyeh Abu Saleh, Galilee, Palestine

Land Day, March 30, is an annual day of commemoration. In 1976, in response to the Israeli government’s announcement of a plan to expropriate thousands of dunams of land for state purposes, a general strike and marches were organized in Arab towns, from the Galilee to the Negev. In the ensuing confrontations with the Israeli army and police, six unarmed Palestinian citizens of Israel were killed, about one hundred were wounded, and hundreds of others arrested. This was the first time since 1948 that Palestinian Arabs in Israel had organized a response to Israeli policies as a Palestinian national collective. Land Day is marked not only by Palestinian citizens of Israel, but also by Palestinians all over the world.

Era: Sumud - Steadfastness (1948 onwards)

Further reading