The Palestinians’ struggle for the right to their lands continues

On March 30, 1976, in response to Israel’s massive expropriation of Palestinian lands, Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel declared a general strike and held protest marches in the Galilee, the Triangle and the Naqab (Negev). During these demonstrations, six Palestinians were killed and dozens more were injured by police and military fire. These events came to be known as “Land Day”, and each year they are commemorated as they symbolize the Palestinians’ ongoing struggle for their lands.
 

45 years on, Israel continues to forcibly displace Palestinians from their lands in order to establish and expand Jewish towns, particularly in the Naqab, in the south of Israel. In May 2019, the state initiated lawsuits to evict 500 residents of the unrecognised Bedouin village of Ras Jrabah in the Naqab from lands on which they have lived for generations in order to expand the nearby, primarily Israeli Jewish city of Dimona. The authorities plan to evacuate the residents, who are citizens of Israel, to demolish their homes and resettle them in a segregated town designated solely for the Bedouin population. This move would also cut the residents off from Dimona, on which they heavily rely for employment, health and welfare services.

The State of Israel has a long-standing policy of racial segregation in housing. Recently this policy was further codified in law by Article 7 of The Basic Law: Israel – The Nation State of the Jewish People, which anchors Jewish settlement as a constitutional value.