Land Day: Hamas defiant

JERUSALEM: Arab Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza were holding rallies yesterday commemorating the 37th anniversary of “Land Day.”
The annual demonstrations mark the deaths of six Arab Israeli protesters at the hands of Israeli police and troops during mass protests in 1976 against plans to confiscate Arab land in Galilee.
The central events were scheduled for the northern Arab-Israeli town of Sakhnin and the Negev.
In the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya dozens of people joined a rally, while at Khan Yunis in the south olive trees were planted in commemoration. Sami Abu Zuhri of the Hamas movement that rules Gaza told participants at the Khan Yunis event his movement was “continuing our resistance to liberate all of Palestine,” and would “continue to strike inside Israel.” In Rafah, some 500 Palestinians took part in a rally during which some threw stones at Israeli soldiers, who responded with live fire.
In the contested West Bank zone east of Jerusalem referred to as E1 a delegation of 20 Palestinians, including prime minister Salam Fayyad, planted trees to mark Land Day.