On this day, 30 March 1976, a general strike and mass protests were launched in Palestine/Israel in protest at the Israeli government seizing large amounts of land owned by Arabs in Galilee in order to construct Jewish settlements and military facilities.
A solidarity strike took place in most Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. There were widespread clashes with security forces, and six unarmed demonstrators were shot by police and the military, with around 100 people wounded and hundreds of others arrested.
The protests, and anger at the repression galvanised a sense of Palestinian Arab solidarity in the area, and sparked greater agitation for Palestinian rights.
While the expropriation plan was successful in proportionately reducing the Arab population of Galilee from 92% down to 72%, significant expropriations of land in the area largely ceased in the 1980s.
30 March is now commemorated annually in Palestine/Israel as Land Day with demonstrations and general strikes.
Learn more about the region in our podcast episode 17-18 about Israeli opposition to Zionism, available wherever you get your podcasts or on our website: https://workingclasshistory.com/2018/12/16/e17-anti-zionism-in-israel-part-1/ https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1953238641527943/?type=3