Israeli authorities expressed relief and satisfaction that “Land Day” passed yesterday with a minimum of trouble in Israel and relatively few serious clashes on the West Bank despite attempts by Arab activists to whip up mass sentiment against Israel. But the day was not altogether without friction.
The town council and local dignitaries of the Arab village of Baka el-Gharbiye near Hadera are demanding an investigation of alleged police brutality and five youths from the neighboring village of Jatt were arrested yesterday and will be charged with preparing explosives for sabotage purposes.
“Land Day” marked the first anniversary of Arab riots in Galilee to protest the government’s expropriation of Arab lands there and to commemorate the deaths of six Israeli Arabs killed in the rioting last March 30.
TOWN COUNCIL DEMANDS ACTION
The incident at Baka el-Gharbiye appears to have been more serious than first reported and may have future repercussions. Police used force there to remove a roadblock of burning tires erected by local Arab youths. The town council claimed today that police entered the village without provocation and precipitated clashes with the local population in which several Arabs were injured. The communique did not mention the tire-burning incident on the village’s main street.
Eye-witnesses told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the charges against the police were exaggerated. But they admitted that some policemen used force indiscriminately and several villagers were treated for injuries but none required hospitalization. Four villagers were detained for questioning.
The town council demanded their immediate release. It said it would call for a meeting of the National Committee for the Defense of the Arab Lands, a body formed last year in connection with the expropriations. It also declared a general strike for Sunday, April 17, to protest the police action. A general protest meeting of Israeli Arabs was held yesterday in Arrabe village, not Baka el-Gharbiye as reported.
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