[[{"content_id":"21480","domain_id":"0","lang_id":"en","portal_id":"2","owner_id":"29","user_id":"1","view_accesslevel_id":"0","edit_accesslevel_id":"0","delete_accesslevel_id":"0","editor_id":"0","content_title":"Commemorating Palestinian Land Day","content_number":"0","content_date_event":"2013-04-03 10:19:00","content_summary":"","content_summary_fill":"0","content_body":"Stephen Lendman: On March 30, Palestinians worldwide observed Land Day. They've done so since 1976.\r\nNationwide protests and general strike action erupted. At issue was Israel's land confiscation policy and brutal occupation harshness. \r\nIn early 1975, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin announced plans to Judaize the Galilee. "Developing the Galilee," he called it. \r\nHe wanted to transform it into a majority Jewish region, construct eight industrial estates, and develop its economy exclusively for Jews. Doing so required dispossessing Arab citizens.\r\nIn 1976, General Yisrael Koenig headed Israel's northern region. In March, he prepared a secret report. It recommended encouraging Jewish immigrants. He wanted them populating the Galilee and Negev regions. He wanted Israeli Arabs removed to accommodate them.\r\nConfiscating 60,000 dunums of Arab-owned Galilee land was planned. Rabin claimed doing so was for "security and settlement purposes."\r\nDemonstrations were declared illegal. Israeli Arabs ignored threats. They rallied. Thousands of security forces confronted them. They did so violently. Six Palestinians died. Dozens more were injured. Hundreds were arrested. \r\nPolice states operate that way. Israel's one of the worst.\r\nLand Day 1976 was special. Israeli Arabs resisted. They did so en masse for the first time. They protested internal colonization. They showed political awareness. They defied Israeli ruthlessness. They did so courageously. They showed they'd no longer be ignored.\r\nIn 1948, Israel stole 78% of Palestine. In 1967, they took the rest. The Israeli\/Palestinian conflict remains the longest unresolved one of our time.\r\nIsraeli Arabs comprise 20% of Israel's population. They're treated like fifth column threats. From 1948 - 1966, they lived under military rule. It applied only to them. They're Israeli citizens. It didn't matter.\r\nTheir fundamental freedoms were restricted. Many were denied. Israel prevented attempts to organize internal pan-Arab cohesion. Divide and rule reflects policy.\r\nSo is land confiscation. By 1993, over 80% of Arab-owned land was stolen. Today it approaches 90%. Palestinians were displaced. Jews replaced them. \r\nLand Day reflects Palestine's struggle. Militarized occupation is rejected. So are illegal settlements.\r\nLand Day matters. Israel Arab rights are spurned. Longterm occupation is illegal. Palestine's an isolated prison. State terror is official Israeli policy. The price of freedom involves resistance.\r\nOver a million Palestinians are Israeli citizens. They live mainly in the Little Triangle along the Green Line, the Galilee and Negev desert. They suffer hugely. Unemployment is high. Little government support compensates. Their needs are largely ignored.\r\nDozens of discriminatory laws harm them. Restrictive planning policies limit residential building and commercial development. Most Arab citizens have no viable options.\r\nBedouin Israelis live in dozens of Negev villages. They're unrecognized. They're denied essential services. They're targeted for dispossession. Israel plans stealing their land for Jews.\r\nRashid Hussein (1936 - 1977) was a noted Palestinian poet. In 1959, he participated in founding the Land Movement. His poems reflected his passion.\r\n"With the Land" says:\r\n\r\nThe land comes near me\r\ndrinks from me\r\nleaves its orchards with me\r\nto become a beautiful weapon\r\ndefending me\r\nEven when I sleep\r\nthe land comes near me\r\nin my dream.\r\nI smuggle its wild thyme\r\nbetween exiles\r\nI sing its stones\r\nI will even sweat blood\r\nfrom my veins\r\nto drink its news\r\nso the land comes near me\r\nleaves a stone of love with me\r\nto defend it\r\nand defend me\r\n\r\nWhen I repay it\r\nI will embrace it a thousand times\r\nI will worship it a thousand times\r\nI will celebrate its wedding on my forehead\r\non the rubble of exiles\r\nand the ruins of prisons\r\nI will drink from it\r\nIt will drink from me\r\nSo that the Galilee would remain\r\nbeauty, struggle, and love\r\ndefending it\r\ndefending me\r\nI see the land;\r\na morning that will come\r\nand the land will come near me\r\n"Without a Passport" says:\r\nI was born without a passport\r\nI grew up\r\nand saw my country\r\nbecome prisons\r\nwithout a passport\r\nSo I raised a country\r\na sun\r\nand wheat\r\nin every house\r\nI tended to the trees therein\r\nI learned how to write poetry\r\nto make the people of my village happy\r\nwithout a passport\r\nI learned that he whose land is stolen\r\ndoes not like the rain\r\nIf he were ever to return to it, he will\r\nwithout a passport\r\nBut I am tired of minds\r\nthat have become hotels\r\nfor wishes that never give birth\r\nexcept with a passport\r\nWithout a passport\r\nI came to you\r\nand revolted against you\r\nso slaughter me\r\nperhaps I will then feel that I am dying\r\nwithout a passport","content_html":"


Stephen Lendman: <\/strong><\/font>On March 30, Palestinians worldwide observed Land Day. They've done so since 1976.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

Nationwide protests and general strike action erupted. At issue was Israel's land confiscation policy and brutal occupation harshness. <\/font><\/p>\r\n

In early 1975, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin announced plans to Judaize the Galilee. "Developing the Galilee," he called it. <\/font><\/p>\r\n

He wanted to transform it into a majority Jewish region, construct eight industrial estates, and develop its economy exclusively for Jews. Doing so required dispossessing Arab citizens.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

In 1976, General Yisrael Koenig headed Israel's northern region. In March, he prepared a secret report. It recommended encouraging Jewish immigrants. He wanted them populating the Galilee and Negev regions. He wanted Israeli Arabs removed to accommodate them.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

Confiscating 60,000 dunums of Arab-owned Galilee land was planned. Rabin claimed doing so was for "security and settlement purposes."<\/font><\/p>\r\n

Demonstrations were declared illegal. Israeli Arabs ignored threats. They rallied. Thousands of security forces confronted them. They did so violently. Six Palestinians died. Dozens more were injured. Hundreds were arrested. <\/font><\/p>\r\n

Police states operate that way. Israel's one of the worst.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

Land Day 1976 was special. Israeli Arabs resisted. They did so en masse for the first time. They protested internal colonization. They showed political awareness. They defied Israeli ruthlessness. They did so courageously. They showed they'd no longer be ignored.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

In 1948, Israel stole 78% of Palestine. In 1967, they took the rest. The Israeli\/Palestinian conflict remains the longest unresolved one of our time.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

Israeli Arabs comprise 20% of Israel's population. They're treated like fifth column threats. From 1948 - 1966, they lived under military rule. It applied only to them. They're Israeli citizens. It didn't matter.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

Their fundamental freedoms were restricted. Many were denied. Israel prevented attempts to organize internal pan-Arab cohesion. Divide and rule reflects policy.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

So is land confiscation. By 1993, over 80% of Arab-owned land was stolen. Today it approaches 90%. Palestinians were displaced. Jews replaced them. <\/font><\/p>\r\n

Land Day reflects Palestine's struggle. Militarized occupation is rejected. So are illegal settlements.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

Land Day matters. Israel Arab rights are spurned. Longterm occupation is illegal. Palestine's an isolated prison. State terror is official Israeli policy. The price of freedom involves resistance.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

Over a million Palestinians are Israeli citizens. They live mainly in the Little Triangle along the Green Line, the Galilee and Negev desert. They suffer hugely. Unemployment is high. Little government support compensates. Their needs are largely ignored.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

Dozens of discriminatory laws harm them. Restrictive planning policies limit residential building and commercial development. Most Arab citizens have no viable options.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

Bedouin Israelis live in dozens of Negev villages. They're unrecognized. They're denied essential services. They're targeted for dispossession. Israel plans stealing their land for Jews.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

Rashid Hussein (1936 - 1977) was a noted Palestinian poet. In 1959, he participated in founding the Land Movement. His poems reflected his passion.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

"With the Land" says:<\/font><\/p>\r\n

<\/font><\/p>\r\n

The land comes near me<\/font><\/p>\r\n

drinks from me<\/font><\/p>\r\n

leaves its orchards with me<\/font><\/p>\r\n

to become a beautiful weapon<\/font><\/p>\r\n

defending me<\/font><\/p>\r\n


Even when I sleep<\/font><\/p>\r\n

the land comes near me<\/font><\/p>\r\n

in my dream.<\/font><\/p>\r\n

I smuggle its wild thyme<\/font><\/p>\r\n

between exiles<\/font><\/p>\r\n

I sing its stones<\/font><\/p>\r\n

I will even sweat blood<\/font><\/p>\r\n

from my veins<\/font><\/p>\r\n

to drink its news<\/font><\/p>\r\n

so the land comes near me<\/font><\/p>\r\n

leaves a stone of love with me<\/font><\/p>\r\n

to defend it<\/font><\/p>\r\n

and defend me<\/font><\/p>\r\n

<\/font><\/p>\r\n

When I repay it<\/font><\/p>\r\n

I will embrace it a thousand times<\/font><\/p>\r\n

I will worship it a thousand times<\/font><\/p>\r\n

I will celebrate its wedding on my forehead<\/font><\/p>\r\n

on the rubble of exiles<\/font><\/p>\r\n

and the ruins of prisons<\/font><\/p>\r\n


I will drink from it<\/font><\/p>\r\n

It will drink from me<\/font><\/p>\r\n

So that the Galilee would remain<\/font><\/p>\r\n

beauty, struggle, and love<\/font><\/p>\r\n

defending it<\/font><\/p>\r\n

defending me<\/font><\/p>\r\n


I see the land;<\/font><\/p>\r\n

a morning that will come<\/font><\/p>\r\n

and the land will come near me<\/font><\/p>\r\n


"Without a Passport" says:<\/font><\/p>\r\n


I was born without a passport<\/font><\/p>\r\n

I grew up<\/font><\/p>\r\n

and saw my country<\/font><\/p>\r\n

become prisons<\/font><\/p>\r\n

without a passport<\/font><\/p>\r\n


So I raised a country<\/font><\/p>\r\n

a sun<\/font><\/p>\r\n

and wheat<\/font><\/p>\r\n

in every house<\/font><\/p>\r\n

I tended to the trees therein<\/font><\/p>\r\n

I learned how to write poetry<\/font><\/p>\r\n

to make the people of my village happy<\/font><\/p>\r\n

without a passport<\/font><\/p>\r\n


I learned that he whose land is stolen<\/font><\/p>\r\n

does not like the rain<\/font><\/p>\r\n

If he were ever to return to it, he will<\/font><\/p>\r\n

without a passport<\/font><\/p>\r\n


But I am tired of minds<\/font><\/p>\r\n

that have become hotels<\/font><\/p>\r\n

for wishes that never give birth<\/font><\/p>\r\n

except with a passport<\/font><\/p>\r\n


Without a passport<\/font><\/p>\r\n

I came to you<\/font><\/p>\r\n

and revolted against you<\/font><\/p>\r\n

so slaughter me<\/font><\/p>\r\n

perhaps I will then feel that I am dying<\/font><\/p>\r\n

without a passport<\/font><\/p>","content_source":null,"content_url":null,"content_columns":"0","content_date_start":"2013-04-03 10:19:00","content_date_finish":"2013-04-03 10:19:00","content_date_register":"2013-04-03 10:19:00","content_date_last_edit":"0000-00-00 00:00:00","content_show_img":"1","content_show_details":"1","content_show_related_img":"1","content_show_slider":"1","content_show_title_slider":"1","content_comment":"0","content_score":"0","content_recorded":"0","content_confirmed":"1","content_status":"1","content_kind":"0","old_id":"21474","tag_id":null,"tag_word":null,"tag_service":null,"tag_total":null,"tag_soundex":null,"attach_token":null,"attach_date_register":null,"attach_id":null,"attach_file_ext":null,"attach_file_header":null,"attach_img_type":null,"attach_img_width":null,"attach_img_height":null,"attach_file_media":null,"attach_show_watermark":null,"score_average":null,"score_count":null,"score_date_last":null,"visit_count":"207","visit_date_last":"2025-05-10 19:53:34","attach_title":null,"node_title":"Commentaries","ot_node_left_right":"[{\"node_id\":134, \"left\":25, \"right\":26}]"}]]