Palestinian Land Day has little to do with Palestinian land.
By ISRAEL KASNETTChild throws stone during Land Day protest 370(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
To Palestinians everywhere and their supporters, Palestinian Land Day is marked on March 30 in commemoration of the same date in 1976 when Israeli forces shot and killed Palestinians protesting against what they considered to be Israel’s theft of Palestinian land in the Galilee.A Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) global day of action is also taking place around the world today as anti-Israel activists seek to delegitimize the state.Another event, the Global March to Al-Quds, is taking place today as activists in other countries “approach” Jerusalem.On Monday, Said Yakin, one of the organizers of the march, ridiculously told The Jerusalem Post, “We believe that the international community has failed as it has not managed to force Israel to stop the Judaization of Jerusalem, the settlements and the separation fence.”It is unfortunate that the path the Palestinians have taken to advance their cause is by attacking Israel. They should have adopted a positive approach, such as demonstrating how their future state could contribute to the global community.PRO-PALESTINIAN supporters have clearly been duped into thinking they are fighting to free Palestinians from the chains of Israeli oppression. They naively believe a Palestinian state would act as a moral beacon for the rights of women and gays and for basic freedoms.It appears to have never occurred to the thousands of activists marching on Israel’s borders that a Palestinian state would represent an absolute threat to those who today enjoy basic freedoms and quality of life thanks to Israel.Arabs in Israel have more freedom than Arabs have in Arab countries.And for those who believe that Palestinians never had a chance to determine their own fate, a mere glance at historical records would reveal numerous instances of Arab refusal to establish a Palestinian state.Palestinians and their supporters continue to reject the Jewish historic link to the land, believing that the West Bank has always been strictly Palestinian.
In reality, much of the land had been the property of the Turkish government until it was passed on to the British Mandate government.The Palestinian rejection of numerous overtures to establish a state on even part of the land they claim as theirs weakens their argument.A nation so desperate to have a state of its own would surely accept whatever is available and use it as a means to further its aspirations.Instead, years of Palestinian rejectionism has resulted in a political and diplomatic deadlock for which there appears to be no immediate solution.Most Israelis and Jews worldwide continue to maintain that there exists a Jewish historic connection to the land, yet the focus today is on the future rather than the past.In contrast, the Palestinians and their supporters focus on the Nakba, an annual day of commemoration of Arab displacement that followed the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948, and the Naksa, the annual day of commemoration for the Palestinian people of the displacement that accompanied Israel’s victory in the 1967 Six Day War. Their focus is on the past and its associated grievances.An important point conveniently ignored by Palestinians is the fact that many Jewish refugees from Arab lands were stripped of their property and possessions in the countries from which they were forced to flee.The Palestinian approach in fighting for their cause and building statehood does nothing to promote coexistence and understanding.Today the Palestinians are preparing the next generation for war – not peaceful relations with Jews.FOR YEARS, Jews have experienced terror as a result of anti-Semitism, hatred and radical indoctrination.Ten years ago, Binyamin Netanyahu penned an article on the front page of the Post in response to the Passover Massacre that took place when a suicide bomber blew himself up in Netanya’s Park Hotel dining room, killing 30 Jews who were conducting their Seder.He wrote, “What is absolutely clear is that we cannot continue, even for one more day, on a path of indecision, without a goal or a policy. We must do what any nation in our position would do: stop bickering among ourselves, fight the war that has been forced upon us, and vanquish an enemy who is determined to annihilate us.”Palestinian Land Day has less to do with Palestinian land than it does with the intent to erase the Jewish presence on land that always held historical significance to the Jewish people.
