The *FREE ARAB VOICE*
March 30, 2001
History of 'Yowm al Ard' or 'Land Day' for Children
By: Nabila Harb
At the end of March in 1976, Palestinians in the Galilee found out that the Zionist
government intended to take
20 thousand dunums of Palestinian farmland to build Jewish settlements and a military
training ground. On 30
March, to protest this theft of their lands, Palestinians called for a general strike. A
general strike used to be a
way for workers to protest injustice by refusing to go to work. When a general strike took
place, workers
often would march through the streets, carrying signs and singing songs of resistance, so
that every one would
know why they refused to work.
For Palestinians now, though, a general strike means more than that. It is a call to
ALL Palestinians to take a
stand against injustice. Workers refuse to go to work, students refuse to go to school and
owners of businesses
shut up their shops and factories. When the General Strike was called on 30 March 1976,
marches and
demonstrations took place throughout the land, from the Galilee to the Nejeb. The Israeli
army and police
responded to the demonstrations with violence, and by the end of the day, dozens of
Palestinians had been
wounded and six had been murdered, shot dead by Zionist guns. This was the beginning of
Land Day. For
all Palestinians, 30 March is Yowm al Ard or 'Land Day', a day when Palestinians all over
the world show
their support and unity with those who live under the Israeli flag and Israeli Occupation
by going on strike
or by organising demonstrations and events.
One of the reasons that Yowm al Ard is so important is that the General Strike took place
inside the heart
of the Palestinian homeland, in the land falsely called 'Israel' by the Zionists.
Palestinians living under the
Zionist flag carry Zionist passports and are called 'Israeli citizens', although they do
not enjoy the same rights
as Jewish 'citizens' of the Zionist state. Why do Palestinians accept 'Israeli' passports
and why do they live
under the Zionist flag? It is because, if they wish to remain within their own homeland,
they have no other
choice at present. There is an old saying that 'Possession is nine-tenths of the Law.'
That means that
it is easier to prove a right to land if one actually is living on the land than if one is
no longer living on the
land. Those Palestinians who managed to escape the genocide and massive evictions of the
Nakba in
1948 have been forced to live under a racist government that really does not want any
non-Jew in Palestine,
and they have been forced to tolerate many injustices simply in order to keep living in
their own homeland.
Throughout over 50 years of Occupation of the heart of Palestine, those Palestinians who
have managed to
stay in the homeland have lived in a very insecure situation. The Zionists never have
trusted them, never have
considered them 'citizens' even when they carry Zionist passports. The real problem,
however, is that the
Zionists will be more than happy to evict them from their own homeland if given the
slightest excuse. The first
Land Day was important because Palestinians living under constant threat of eviction from
their own land
stood against their Occupiers and protested the continuing theft of their homeland. This
year, on the occasion
of Youm al Ard, let us remember every village destroyed by the invaders, every act of
terror and intimidation
visited upon the Palestinians by the Zionists, every martyr who has fallen to Zionist acts
of violence. For there
has been no end to the Nakba; the massacres, demolitions, confiscations and imprisonments
continue to this
day and there is no end in sight, unless the Palestinians themselves refuse to allow this nightmare of broken
trusts and shattered dreams to persist. This year, Palestinians living under Occupation
are more oppressed than ever, because of a Zionist practice known as 'closures', which basically seals up all
Palestinian towns and
villages, preventing Palestinians from travel, and putting them under what is almost
'house arrest'.
The new Intifada which began last September when the Butcher Sharon forced himself into
the holy Al Aqsa
mosque with 2 thousand soldiers still has not been stopped by the Zionists, and
Palestinians continue to struggle
against the Occupation, even though over 400 Palestinians, most of them children, have been murdered. We
must not forget the sacrifice that has been made by those brave children and their
families in the cause of freedom.
Yowm al Ard this year should be a Day of Remembrance of our Martyrs, as well as a Day when
we make a
promise to do whatever we can to help the cause of justice for our people.
For Palestinians everywhere, every day should be Youm al Ard; it is time to understand
that we cannot look
to any foreign power for rescue, but that steadfastness and determination alone will
ensure a future for Palestine.
Here are some memories of the first Yowm al Ard from Dr. Shouki Kassis, who was a teacher
in Occupied
Palestine at the time:
'---As a child I grew up with 3 words or phrases mentioned very frequently in all adult
conversations and
debates around me. These 3 words were so much a part of all adult speech that they became
a real
nightmare for me as a child. I never understood what these words meant but I was certain
they irritated
every adult who said them.
They were:
---The law of Absent/Present (Qanoon Elhader/Gayeb)
Abandoned property (Amwal Matrukeh) ---The agency (Alwekaleh). It refers to the 'Jewish
Agency for
Land in the Land of Israel' - 'Hasokhnoot hayehudeet' in Hebrew. [These three phrases
stood for three
different ways by which the Zionists continued to steal land from the Palestinian people
after their invasion
of Palestine. Without going into details, 'laws' and Zionist agencies such as these were
created so that the
Zionists could get rid of all Palestinians who remained in their homeland after the Nakba
and take over
all the land.
These Zionist 'laws' and agencies are committing crimes and there are international laws
to protect people
against crimes like these that are committed by invaders of land belonging to some one
else. Unfortunately,
the Zionists never paid much attention to international law, and as they used these 'laws'
of theirs to steal
more and more land, the Palestinians that had managed to stay in the homeland became more
and more
angry and upset. At the end of March in 1976, the Zionists had just taken more farmlands
away from
their Palestinian owners. ]
'The Zionists declared ALL Arab villages and towns as military zone and imposed curfew on
the villages
of Sakhnin, Arrabieh, Der-Hannah, Turhan, Tamra, and Kabul (all in lower Galilee),
effective 5:00 PM,
29 March, 1976.
The Palestinians bravely decided to protest against this theft by calling a Strike and
holding marches and
demonstrations.
---The morning of 30 March, 1976, Israeli solders with tanks and heavy artillery were in
these villages
(military occupation). The result was: Seven young Palestinian Arabs, mostly teenagers,
were cold-baldly
murdered by Israeli solders that day. One such martyr was 16 year-old young Khaddeajeh
Shawahdeh
from Sakhnin. She was murdered when she stepped outside her home to bring back her 5-year
old
brother who ran out after his cat. Khaddeajeh was my 11th grade student. I cried like a
baby!
---Since 30 March, 1976 we observe Yom Elard on 30 March every year.'
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