(JTA) — Israeli security forces arrested 34 Palestinians in protests marking Land Day.
The Friday protests in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem are part of an annual event meant to commemorate Israel’s expropriation of thousands of acres of land from Arabs in 1976.
Demonstrations, some of them violent, took place in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and at the Kalandiya checkpoint, a military roadblock between Jerusalem and Ramallah. In all, at least 34 people reportedly were arrested and several were injured.
At Kalandiya, Palestinian youths hurled stones and Molotov cocktails at Israeli security forces, who responded with tear gas and stun grenades, The Jerusalem Post reported. A similar exchange occurred near Bethlehem, with Israeli forces responding to surging protesters with tear gas. Other confrontations between Israeli forces and protesters were reported at the Erez Crossing in Gaza and at the Nablus gate in Jerusalem.
Activists had planned to mass at Israel’s borders for a Global March to Jerusalem. In response, Israel beefed up its border patrols.
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