Last update - 00:00 30/03/2007
Some 3,000 people march in Sakhnin to mark 31st anniversary of Land Day
By Jack Khoury, Haaretz Correspondent
Roughly 3,000 participants marched Friday in Sakhnin to mark the 31st anniversary of Land Day.
Additional Land Day events were held in Taibe as well as a number of other Arab towns and villages in the Galilee, and in unrecognized villages in the Negev.
The main demonstration was held in Sakhnin, which was also the focus of clashes between police and demonstrators in 1976, following the government's decision to expropriate Arab lands in the Galilee as part of the economic development of that area. Six Israeli Arabs were killed, and the day has seen bloody clashes on several occasions since.
The Supreme Monitoring Committee Of the Arab Population said that they mark the day because of "the continuation of prejudiced policies against the Arab public in Israel in all aspects of life, and in particular the budget issue to Arab muncipalities and the threats to their dismantlement." The committee also said it is protesting "the stealing of land from Arab villages, and the prevention of their expansion."
The committee also said it would not call for a general strike as in past years, because this year's Land Day falls on a Friday, a day of rest for the Arab sector.
In a statement released Thursday, the Supreme Monitoring Committee Of the Arab Population called for the Israeli government to promote the peace process and hold direct negotiations with the new Palestinian unity government. The committee also called for the government to avoid what it labeled, "the damage to the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the attempts to outlaw the northern branch of the Islamic movement."
The spokesman for the police's northern district said talks were held throughout the week between committee officials and Northern District police commander Major General Dan Ronen. The talks concluded that local authorities would be responsible for securing the day's events, and that police would not make their presence felt in the centers of Arab towns, but would secure the roads surrounding the events.