Land Day

Directed by Ghaleb Chaath

Land Day is commemorated by Palestinian annually on March 30. On that day in 1976, Palestinian citizens of Israel rebelled against the attempts of the ruling authorities to expropriate and colonize large swathes of their lands around six villages in the Galilee. Palestinians announced a general strike and organized marches in different Arab towns, where violent confrontations with the police erupted resulting in six martyrs amongst the demonstrators. Since then, the 30th of March was marked as a national day in which Palestinians show unity and intention to defend their land and the attachment to their national identity. Yom El Ard recounted the events of that day and documented the first anniversary activities. It features interviews with victims of violence, mayors of the affected villages and shows rarely seen footage of that era.