For First Time in 16 Years, Land Day Passes Peacefully

Historians may mark Land Day 1992 as a turning point in the delicate relations between Israel and its minority of 750,000 Arab citizens.

Monday was the 16th anniversary of mass protests against the Israeli army’s confiscation of Arab lands in Galilee, which came to be known as Land Day.

The first occurred on March 30, 1976, when six Arabs were shot to death by Israeli security forces. Ever since, Land Day has been an occasion of general strikes and turmoil in Arab villages and towns in Israel, where bitter protests against the government often ended with rioting.

But this year, for the first time, Land Day was marked by peace and harmony.

Credit goes to the National Steering Committee of Arab Mayors, Arab Knesset members and other public figures who decided to turn the day of protest into a national holiday for Israel’s Arab citizens.

“This will be a day of rest and not of strikes,” Mohammed Zeidan, spokesman for the Mayors Committee, had proclaimed last week.

His prediction proved true beyond anyone’s expectations.

One possible reason is that the Moslem festival of Id el-Fitr, marking the end of the monthlong fast of Ramadan, was about to commence.

Nazareth, the largest Arab city in Israel, was humming with activity Monday. Tourists flowed in and out of the markets, and the shops were filled with holiday shoppers.

The scene was a far cry from the tension and strikes that kept stores shuttered and businesses locked on past Land Days, which accomplished little.

“We are sick and tired of the frequent strikes,” said Bashir Bishara, owner of a cloth shop in the market. “The strikes led us nowhere. We want coexistence rather than friction.”

According to Bishara, Land Day with a smiling face will get the Arabs much further than angry protests.

A FEW MODERATE DEMONSTRATIONS

His next-door neighbor, Salim Zuabi, said the Land Day strikes of the past frightened off Jewish customers for months afterward.

Arab villagers did observe a general strike Monday, but it blended with the holiday atmosphere.

Modest demonstrations demanding equal rights for Arabs took place in the villages. Moslem activists organized a tree-planting ceremony in the Galilee village of Turan.

Here in Ramiya, a village near the Jewish development town of Carmiel, a crowd demanded that the government reverse its plans to transfer residents to another Arab village nearby.

The transfer is to make room for a new neighborhood in Carmiel that will house the large number of immigrants the town has absorbed.

“Let them bring in the new immigrants,” said Aida Sawaid, a 20-year-old student. “We will live along with them,” she said.

There was no single, clear reason for the dramatic change in the character of Land Day.

Perhaps it was the upcoming Moslem feast; perhaps internal friction in the Arab political community; perhaps simply a growing awareness that putting on a happy face would pay off better than angry demonstrations.

The most surprising scene this Land Day was the presence of Dr. Alexander Blei, the prime minister’s adviser for Arab affairs, in the heart of Sakhnin, just as a noisy, colorful parade marched through the Arab village.

It was as if the establishment wanted to take part in the day’s events.

Somewhat embarrassed, Blei said he did not come to participate in Land Day. “I came to visit,” he said, “and this day is as good as any other.”