4 Gazans martyred by Israeli fire amid Land Day demos

GAZA CITY, Palestine

On Saturday, tens of thousands of Palestinians staged mass rallies near Gaza-Israel buffer zone to mark the first anniversary of protests against the decades-long Israeli occupation.

The protests also commemorated the 43rd anniversary of the Land Day when six people were killed in 1976 during demonstrations against of Arab land in Galilee.

In the run-up to Saturday’s rallies, the Israeli army has deployed numerous tanks and armored vehicles along the buffer zone with the Gaza Strip.

Nearly 270 Palestinian demonstrators have been martyred by Israeli army gunfire since Palestinians began holding regular demonstrations along the Gaza-Israel buffer zone in March of last year.

Demonstrators demand the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes in historical Palestine from which they were driven in 1948 to make way for the new state of Israel.

They also demand an end to Israel’s 12-year blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has gutted the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its roughly two million inhabitants of many basic commodities.


International Support

In Turkey, members of the Friends of Palestine against Imperialism and Zionism gathered in front of Israel’s Consulate General in Istanbul and showed solidarity with Palestinians who fight for their land.

Recalling the U.S. decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights, Naz Sakar, speaking for the group, said it would continue to be a major security threat for the region as long as Israel controls the area.

“Israel’s existence in the Golan Heights is both illegitimate and harms the people of the region,” she said, adding the decision was also against the international law.

Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War.

It continues to occupy roughly two-thirds of the wider area as a de facto result of the conflict. It moved to formally annex the territory in 1981 -- an action unanimously rejected at the time by the UN Security Council, which called on Israel to rescind its decision.

On Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump signed a presidential proclamation officially recognizing Golan Heights as Israeli territory.

Demonstrations in many French cities, especially in capital Paris, also supported the Great Return March of Palestinians, upon the call from the Association France Palestine Solidarité (AFPS).

Demonstrators gathering in Jean Ferrat Square in Paris chanted against Israel while carrying placards which said “Free Palestine”, “Justice for Palestine,” and “No to Gaza-blockade.”

The crowd also urged Israel to immediately stop the massacre it applies to Palestinian people.

In the Netherlands’ capital Amsterdam, a group of people -- including Muslims and the locals -- held a demonstration to mark the 43rd anniversary of the Land Day and anniversary of the Great Return March of Palestine.

The groups carried Palestinian flags and chanted slogans against Israel. They said in a speech that boycotting Israel and sanctions against it were seen as terrorism, while its criticizers were blamed as being anti-Semitist.

A group of Israel supporters provoked the demonstration by carrying Israeli flags, and one former Israeli soldier, who always attacked and disturbed peaceful protests against Israel in the Netherlands, caused tensions between two groups from time to time.

Police did not disperse the Israel supporters who demonstrated without permission.

Non-governmental organizations also marked the Land Day in capital of Berlin with the attendance of around 250 people.

They carried placards, some of which said “One day we’ll be back” and “Freedom for Palestine.”

* Huseyin Kulaoglu from Istanbul, Yusuf Ozcan from Paris, Abdullah from Amsterdam, Cuneyt Karadag from Berlin contributed to this report

* Writing by Ali Abo Rezeg, Sibel Morrow, Sena Guler, Dilara Hamit