With the current abundance of fierce political demonstrations and lethal encounters with Arab terrorists, we almost forgot that today, March 30, marks the 47th anniversary of Land Day, commemorating the 1976 bloody riots that followed the Rabin Government’s plan to expropriate thousands of acres that were held by Arab communities in the Galilee to expand the city of Karmiel. In response, Israeli Arabs declared a general strike and marches, which resulted in confrontations with the army and the police. Six Arab citizens were killed, about one hundred were wounded, and many were arrested.
Since then, March 30, the starting point of public protest and political mobilization on the part of Israeli Arabs, became the main Arab protest day every year, and a historical event of great importance. Before March 30, 1976, Arab protest against the government was quiet and mainly localized and did not create a deep resonance in Israeli society. After that date, the protest became more prominent and active, and the March 30 anniversary has been clearly and angrily expressed.
The Arab protest, above all, opposes the Judaization of the country and protests the treatment of the Israeli Arab population by the Jewish government.
So how come nothing significant has happened so far on March 30, 2023? Maybe the Israeli calendar year is saturated with too many anniversaries of bloody Arab uprisings. The anniversary of the Guardian of the Walls pogroms is coming up in May, to name one. But the fact is that this year, even Ha’aretz was too busy hating the sixth Netanyahu government to pay attention to the inequities of the first Rabin government.
Only the Arab League issued a statement supporting the “Palestinian steadfastness and the just struggle to restore the rights of the Palestinian people” on “Land Day.”
The representatives of the Arab countries called on the international community to “take responsibility and take serious steps to end the occupation, establish an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, and act to provide international protection for the Palestinian people.”
Yada, yada, yada. The local Arabs don’t care anymore.
Unless, of course, something happens later today when the daily dawn-to-dusk fast of Ramadan ends and folks go out to the streets looking for a fight. Stay tuned.
