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Last update - 05:53 23/03/2008 Jaffa to be focus of Israeli Arab protest on 32nd Land Day By Yigal Hai, Haaretz Correspondent Tags: Land Day, Israeli Arabs  For the first time in the event's 32-year history, Jaffa is to be one of the main centers of Land Day, which will be marked on Friday. The decision was made by the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee in response to a request from representatives of Jaffa's Popular Committee to Defend the Right to Housing and Land. Jaffa's Popular Committee seeks to focus attention on the housing shortage for Jaffa's Arab population. The Jaffa event, which organizers described as a joint Arab-Jewish one, will include a rally and a protest march. The other main venues for this year's Land Day commemoration are Arabeh and Kalansua. According to leaders of Jaffa's Popular Committee, in the past two years the Israel Lands Administration and the Amidar Public Housing Authority have issued eviction requests to 500 Arab families in Jaffa, mainly in the Ajami neighborhood, on the grounds that they invaded the properties and engaged in illegal construction. Advertisement The first Land Day took place on March 30, 1976, when the Arab public held a protest strike against the expropriation of lands in the Galilee "for purposes of security and settlement." Six demonstrators were shot and killed by Israeli forces in Sakhnin, Taibeh, Arabeh and Kafr Kana when protests turned violent. Since then, Israeli Arabs have commemorated Land Day annually in various locations with rallies, protest marches and other events. The Jaffa activists say the city has never been the site of a major Land Day event, although small demonstrations - the last of which was about 10 years ago - have been held there. "Usually the main events are in the Galilee, in the Triangle [formed by the communities of Baka al-Garbiyeh, Taibeh and Tira] or in the Negev," Gabi Abed, deputy chairman of Rabita - the League for the Arabs of Jaffa, said. "Only rarely are major events held in the mixed cities. Due to the sensitive situation in Jaffa, this year we want to sound an alarm in the face of the establishment, Abed said. According to one of the founders of the Jaffa Popular Committee, Fadi Shabita, "The eviction requests that were sent to residents of Jaffa are a continuation of the same land policy that led to the first Land Day. The holding of Land Day in the city is a way of stepping up our expression, of saying that we will not quietly accept this process." Related articles: Wellsprings of memory Poets in an 'enemy' language Border police officer convicted of killing Palestinian in Jaffa First we'll take Ajami Bookmark to del.icio.us   Getting online, already A gov't official is planning the first Web site 'to connect all Jews around the world'. Naim to meet you French-Israeli folk singer Yael Naim isn't worried about becoming too commercial.   1.   Invaded the property? 06:21  |  MaryRose 23/03/08   2.   FOR ALL the land Arab armies tried to steal& failed! NAQBA 08:13  |  PETER SM 23/03/08   3.   re `Invaded the property?` 08:16  |  Colin Wright 23/03/08   4.   Built Illegally? 09:00  |  B`Galil 23/03/08   5.   #3--Mr. Wright--you are wrong! 10:59  |  Earnie the Attorney 23/03/08   6.   A good time to note the history and origins of Jaffa 11:31  |  Jo 23/03/08   7.   A good time to note the history and origins of Jaffa 11:31  |  Jo 23/03/08   8.   To Earnie the Attorney 11:54  |  Khalid 23/03/08   9.   The Arabs of Jaffa. 23:13  |  sandra chitayat 23/03/08   10.   Land Day 06:26  |  deborah 24/03/08

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