Land Day protests

Israeli police and troops were on high alert on Friday ahead of a raft of Land Day protests across Israel and the Palestinian territories, as supporters in Lebanon and Jordan readied to march to the borders. Land Day is held every year on March 30 to mark the deaths of six Arab Israeli protesters at the hands of Israeli police and troops during mass demonstrations in 1976 against plans to confiscate Arab land in Galilee. This year, there have been numerous calls for peaceful demonstrations in Israel, the occupied territories and in neighbouring countries, where supporters have been urged to march towards the borders. The main Land Day march will take place in the Galilee town of Deir Hanna, with another march in Israel’s southern Negev desert, both of which were to start in the mid-afternoon. In the West Bank, demonstrations are to take place after the Friday prayers at Qalandia checkpoint near Ramallah, by the main Bethlehem checkpoint and in many villages in the northern West Bank which normally host weekly popular protests. Another rally was to take place outside Damascus Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City, while in Gaza, all the main factions were to attend a march from the northern town of Jabaliya to Beit Lahiya. Israel is hoping to avoid the bloody confrontations that took place last May when thousands gathered along Israel’s borders with Lebanon and Syria on Nakba Day to protest on the anniversary of Israel’s creation in 1948. Troops opened fire on protesters trying to breach the line from Syria and Lebanon, killing 11 and injuring hundreds, UN figures showed. More than 120 people were also injured by gunfire in similar protests in northern Gaza. A month later, at least 10 people were killed and hundreds injured in the Golan when Syrian protesters tried to cross onto the Israeli side on Naksa Day, which marks the anniversary of the 1967 Six Day-War.