LAND DAY PICTURE WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS

April 1st, 2012, Tikun Olam-תיקון עולם http://www.richardsilverstein.com (USA)

Israeli border police pepper spray palestinian at point blank range on Land Day (Ammar Awad/Reuters)

Sometimes pictures are worth a thousand words, at least. In the case of this image by Reuters’ Ammar Awad, this one may be worth 10,000 or more. It’s also instructive that the NY Times headline for the slideshow presentation of Land Day images that includes this one was: Protesters Scuffle With Forces. I don’t see protesters scuffling with Israeli forces. I see Israeli border police mauling unarmed Palestinian demonstrators. I see them pepper-spraying one at point-blank range. You might not notice that his head has already been bloodied as a result of the blows he received at the hands of these border police goons, known for their savagery against such protesters.

Israeli forces also killed one such individual, again someone unarmed.

Let’s not make the mistake of talking about this solely as a product of Occupation (which it is, in part). Keep in mind that this is Land Day. In other words, this is about the injustice of Israel expelling Israeli Palestinians and appropriating their land after the Nakba. There is only one way to address this injustice. It is not just to end the Occupation of Palestine, but to redress the injustice of Nakba.

Palestinian Nakba refugees must be compensated for what Israel stole from them in 1948. Those who wish to return must be permitted to do so. Those who choose to remain where they are or settle in Palestine proper, must also be similarly compensated. If Israel or other nations wish to encourage such refugees not to settle in Israel proper they might offer more compensation to those who do not return to Israel. But returning or not should be a decision of the refugee.

It goes without saying that this image portrays the monstrous thuggery of the border police, known for their savagery against generally defenseless Palestinians. But they are the tip of the iceberg. Below the surface lies much more profound injustice. It is precisely such injustices which liberal Zionists like Gershom Gorenberg and Peter Beinart cannot successfully address in their critique of Israel and Zionism.

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Thousands of Arab-Palestinians in Israel took part in Land Day rallies

31 March 2012, The Israeli Communist Party המפלגה הקומוניסטית הישראלית‎ (Israel)

Several thousands of Arab-Palestinians in Israel took part in Land Day marches across the country on Friday, while similar rallies in the Palestinian territories saw dozens injured and one dead. Arab and communist Knesset members were among the protesters, who wielded Palestinian and red flags. The chairman of Hadash (Democratic Front for Peace and Equality – Communist Party of Israel), MK Mohammad Barakeh, who spoke during the central rally in the Galilee village of Deir Hanna, blamed the government for promoting plans to transfer Arabs residents out of towns in the Negev and other parts of the country.

MK Ahmad Tibi (United Arab List-Ta'al) attended a protest event at the Negev Bedouin village of Wadi al-Naam, and addressed the housing shortage in the region. "Land Day this year is overshadowed by a suburb construction plan that threatens to confiscate some 800,000 dunams of land in the Negev… which will cause a housing shortage worse than anything Jewish towns have experienced," he said.

Protesters run as Israeli army shot tear gas during a demonstration commemorating Land Day in Qalandia checkpoint between Jerusalem and the West Bank city of Ramallah on March 30, 2012 (Photo: Activestills)

According to Ma'an News Agency Israeli fire killed one young Palestinian man and injured over 30 others in clashes at two sites in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian medical official said Friday evening. Adham Abu Salmiya identified the victim as Mahmoud Zakot, 20. He was shot and killed near the Erez crossing, the official said. Thirty-one others in the Erez area were injured and taken to Kamal Adwan Hospital. In Khan Younis, six people were hospitalized. Three people were critically injured, Abu Salmiya added. Medics said the Israeli army used live fire to prevent protesters from approaching frontier barriers in the small coastal territory.

Hamas forces had set up checkpoints to prevent protesters reaching the border area, but many of the activists bypassed them, an activist who attended protests in Beit Hanoun said. Ebaa Rezeq says she witnessed at least six of the injuries which came after Israeli forces fired on a crowd that arrived at the border area. Rezeq says Israeli forces used live fire after they managed to remove a part of a metal fence near the wall. "People are falling here like flies," she wrote on Twitter. "Blood everywhere".

A young Palestinian protester in Bethlehem, meanwhile, was seriously injured on Friday afternoon after being hit in the face by a tear-gas canister, a Ma'an correspondent said. Muhammad Arafa, 20, was taken to hospital in Hebron. He was injured when Israeli forces fired tear-gas canisters and stun grenades at Palestinians who threw stones at a checkpoint in a rally marking Land Day.

Two other people have been seriously injured, the head of the Red Crescent in Bethlehem reported. Eleven people were hospitalized in total at a demonstration outside an Israeli checkpoint. Activists had called for the Global March to Jerusalem to commemorate the Land Day anniversary of Israel's killing of six Palestinians protesting against land confiscation in 1976. Thousands rallied at checkpoints around Jerusalem and in Gaza, Lebanon and Jordan. Israeli forces fired tear gas, stun grenades, sprayed foul-smelling water and used a "scream" acoustic device against stone-throwing Palestinians at Qalandia near Ramallah. Red Crescent spokesman Muhammad Ayyad told Ma'an that medics treated 249 protesters at Qalandiya and 20 were transferred to hospital. Israeli forces injured nine medics and damaged three ambulances at the protest, he added.

Amnesty International's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa called Friday for Israel to stop using excessive force against demonstrators. Ann Harrison said reports that dozens were hurt at demonstrations were "extremely worrying, particularly in the light of frequent and persistent use of excessive force against Palestinian protesters. "We are also concerned at reports that Palestinian Authority security forces have tried to prevent protests in areas under their control, while Hamas security forces have beaten protesters in Gaza. "All those involved in policing demonstrations should respect freedom of assembly and must adhere to international policing standards," Harrison said in a statement.

Related: Land Day Galilee and Negev massive rallies-