Arabs to Mark Land Day with General Strike in Occupied Palestine

Nazareth, 4 Jumadil Akhir 1437/13 Maret 2016 (MINA) – The follow-up committee for Arab citizens has decided to stage a general strike in different towns and villages in the 1948 occupied territories on March 30, which marks the 40th anniversary of the Land Day.

“The Land Day anniversary is coming as the racist aggression led by [Israeli premier] Benjamin Netanyahu has escalated against our Arab masses,” the committee stated in a press release on Saturday.

The committee highlighted several racist and repressive measures that had been taken by the Israeli government against the Palestinians in the 1948 occupied lands, The Palestinian Information center (PIC) quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

Head of the committee Mohamed Baraka said that the Israeli government continues to demolish Palestinian homes in the 1948 occupied territories and has a plan to demolish 50,000 others at the pretext of unlicensed construction.

He also pointed to the Israeli ban imposed on the Islamic Movement and its relief and charitable institutions and the attempts to enact legislation allowing the Knesset to axe its Arab members.

For his part, head of the Islamic Movement Sheikh Ra’ed Salah has called for active participation in the activities and marches that would be organized to mark the Land Day in Umm Hiran village in the Negev and Arrabat al-Battuf town, north of 1948 Occupied Palestine.

March 30, is an annual day for the Palestinians to commemorate the events of that date in 1976 when the Israeli government decided to expropriate thousands of dunums of land for security and settlement purposes. A general strike and marches are organized in Arab towns and villages from the Galilee to the Negev during the occasion.  (T/P008/R07)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)