Commemorate Land Day by redoubling efforts for Palestine

(CHICAGO 03/29/2012) – Thirty-six years ago Friday, Israeli Occupation Forces gunned down six Palestinians peacefully protesting the theft of their land at the hands of the Israeli Occupation authorities. The American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) is calling upon its supporters and all people of conscience to pray for and to remember Khair Mohammad Yasin, Raja Husein Abu Ria, Khader Abd Khalaileh, Khadijeh Shawahneh, Mohammad Yousef Taha, and Rafat Al Zuheiri, who lost their lives protecting their land.

At the same time, AMP is concerned for the thousands of Palestinian refugees, Arabs and international activists who are marching on Jerusalem today in a show of solidarity with occupied Palestinians and to break through Israel’s oppressive apartheid system. The march is another global effort by social justice activists to bring liberty and justice to Palestinians, who have endured decades of brutal occupation.

Land Day, or ‘Youm al-Ard’ in Arabic, commemorates the day in 1976, when hundreds of Palestinians staged a demonstration to protest the confiscation and closure of 5,500 acres of land from their villages in the Galilee. Six were murdered, 96 were injured and 300 were arrested.

The confiscated land later was developed into Jews-only settlements, in direct contravention of international law. Land confiscation and home demolitions continue at an unbridled pace even today. Since 1967, Israeli Occupation Forces have demolished more than 27,000 Palestinian homes. This year alone, some 60,000 Palestinians and Bedouins are being displaced from their homes in the Jordan Valley and the Naqab, respectively.

Today, more than 500,000 Jewish colonizers are living illegally in the West Bank and Jerusalem. The network of settlements, Jewish-only bypass roads and the Apartheid Wall have crisscrossed the West Bank and Jerusalem, carving the areas up into isolated cantons. Today, Palestinians are living on just a fraction of historic Palestine.

Today, as we remember and honor the victims of Land Day, we must renew our committed support toward our brothers and sisters in Palestine. We must not let the sacrifices of those who have given their lives for their people dignity, freedom and liberty be in vain. We must honor them by redoubling our efforts to bring justice to Palestine.