Palestinian demonstrators at a West Bank checkpoint on Friday gathered by Jerusalem’s Old City to mark Land Day. Thousands of protesters swarmed the checkpoint and skirmishes between protesters and Israeli armed forces broke out by mid-day.
Currently, hundreds of Palestinians are rioting at four different locations in Judea and Samaria, throwing rocks, explosives and blazing tires at Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and security forces, who are responding with nonlethal riot dispersal means to contain the incident. No injuries were reported thus far, according to IDF.
Barry Segal, co-founder of Vision for Israel, called Land Day a volatile one for the Jewish State as tens of thousands of Israel-haters participate in the massive global march on Israel’s borders and Jerusalem.
“The onslaught has been months in the planning by Palestinians, fellow anti-Israel Arabs and supporters of Jihad groups and activities, including the Muslim Brotherhood and Iran,” Segal says. “Terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah and Hamas are among the ranks of those who will be attempting to descend upon Judaism’s holy capital— Jerusalem, claiming it is a possession of Islam, a Muslim city called Al-quds.”
Marches are planned from Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and from within the Palestinian Authority-controlled territories. Simultaneously, thousands of Palestinians marching towards different checkpoints from various Palestinian held territories, according to Segal.
“Organizers and leaders of Land Day events and the Global March to Jerusalem have promised this Friday’s demonstrations will be non-violent, but take a look at the array of groups, societies and sponsors behind the events,” Segal says. “When have such leagues ever refrained from violence or maintained reason in getting their message across regarding the Jewish state? So-called peaceful marches, protests and activities have all the elements in place to turn into a full scale disaster on Friday, March 30.”
Land Day dates back to 1976. Palestinians are protesting the deaths of six Arab citizens by Israeli army and police in the wake of a strike and marches in Arab towns. The 1976 marches aimed to protest Israel’s plans to expropriate thousands of dunams of land for security and settlement purposes.
