USPCN statement in commemoration of Land Day 2015

The U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) remembers the six Palestinian martyrs killed by Israeli soldiers on this day in 1976, and pledges to continue its organizing in support of the Right of Return for all Palestinian refugees and their descendants, self-determination and equality, national liberation, and ending Israeli occupation, colonization, and apartheid.

On March 30, 1976, thousands of Palestinians demonstrated in protest of Israel’s plans to expropriate 60,000 dunams (each dunam is approximately 1,000 square meters) of Palestinian land in the Galilee (the northern region of 1948 Palestine). In the ensuing confrontations with Israeli soldiers, six Palestinians were killed, hundreds injured, and hundreds more imprisoned.

Ever since, those events have become consecrated in Palestinian history and consciousness as Land Day. In Arabic, Yawm al-‘Ard has become one of the most widely-observed Palestinian national anniversaries. It signifies the unity of our land on all of historical Palestine, the attachment to our entire homeland, and the indivisibility of Palestinians wherever we live.

In the U.S., the issue of Palestine is oftentimes consigned to the struggle to end Israel’s military occupation of the West Bank and Jerusalem, and its criminal and brutal siege of the Gaza Strip. But USPCN understands clearly the issues faced by our people inside 1948 Palestine as well, where they are relegated to third-class citizenship by Israel, and where they face vicious racism and apartheid policies. In the recent Israeli elections, Palestinian political parties unified to win the third most seats in the Israeli parliament, but we know clearly that the Knesset is not where liberation lies. We will support our people in 1948 Palestine, as they fight for equality and dignity against the ultra-right wing coalition government that fear-mongering Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will inevitably form, but the ultimate victory against Israel’s state terror, colonialism, and occupation will be won with resistance.

And we will also resist the Palestinian Authority (PA), our unrepresentative government in the West Bank, which continues its attempts at separating the Palestinians of the occupied territories from the rest of us in 1948 Palestine and in exile, and its sell-out security coordination with Israel and the U.S.

We repeat our calls for national unity based on the principles of the Right of Return, ending occupation and colonization, freedom for all Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli and PA jails, and national liberation; and believe that these can only be accomplished when the PA is liquidated, and under the leadership of a re-formed Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) that represents all the social sectors of Palestinian society across the world, as well as the entirety of the National and Islamic Forces.

Land Day reminds us of our historical responsibility as Palestinians and Arabs in the U.S.—to build upon the successes of the Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement; to Boycott Coca-Cola as USPCN’s contribution to the campaign; to unite with anti-racist and social justice organizations in this country, especially #BlackLivesMatter, immigrant and workers’ rights formations, and peace and justice groups; to challenge Zionist institutional support of Israel at every turn; and to demand that the U.S. government end its unequivocal support of Israel’s crimes against our people.

USPCN
March 30, 2015