Israel-Palestine Conflict: Land Day - Essay Example

So, the conflict between Israel and Palestine became a serious problem which resulted in large scale violence and bloodshed in the Middle East. Thesis statement: Thorough examination of the Land Day or the Palestinian protest against Israeli authorities on their decision to confiscate Palestinian land, and related deaths, proves that the same is an unforgettable event in the history of Israel-Palestine conflict. The history of Land Day The history of Land Day is interconnected with the history of Palestinian resistance against the alienation faced by them in their homeland.

As pointed out, the formation of Israel (1948) as a separate state for the Jews affected the Palestinians because they were forced to face marginalization. Gradually, the rest of the Palestinians who used to live in Israel began to feel that they need to have a separate state of their own. Within this context, some of the Palestinians considered that negotiation with the Israeli authorities cannot solve their problem. Instead, they considered that violence can attract international attention and can solve the problems faced by them.

On the other side, the Israeli authorities considered that the government needs to prepare land for the Jews who returned from Europe, Americas and other parts of the Middle East. The possible way to solve this problem is to grab property and land from the Palestinians. So, the Israeli authorities decided to expand Israeli settlement in Arab (Palestinian) populated areas. On March 30, 1976, the Palestinians agitated against the Israeli decision to grab Palestinian land and properties. Oren Yiftachel states that “It also came as a response to growing resistance among Israel’s Palestinian citizens, which culminated in a 1976 mass protest known as Land Day, during which six Palestinians were killed while protesting the confiscation of their land by the state.

”1 This incident resulted in strike, marches, and large scale protest against the Israeli government. In the end, the Palestinian Arabs were forced to face calamities (death of 6 Arab Palestinians, hundreds were wounded and arrested). This protest against the Israeli government and its after-effect is commemorated as Land Day by the Palestinians. What lead to Land Day and what it has become to represent for Palestinian people across the globe? As pointed out, the hardships faced by people of Palestine forced them to react and it resulted in violence and bloodshed.

Within this context, the Palestinian Arabs considered that negotiation with the Israeli authorities cannot solve the alienation felt by them in their motherland. David McDowall makes clear that “In response to the new campaign to Judaize the Galilee through renewed expropriations, the first Land Day protest by Israeli Palestinians against state expropriation, on March 1976, coincided with a wave of protests in the West Bank.”2 Besides, the difference in religious belief between the Palestinian Arabs and the Israeli Jews, and the formation of Israel as an independent state ignited nationalistic feeling among the Palestinians.

The Palestinian Arabs considered that they too have the moral right to claim for an independent state. Historically, control over Jerusalem is important for more than two religions (say, Judaism, Christianity and Islam). In 1948, the Palestinian