Yom-el-Ard – Day of the Land: Symbol of Palestinian Resistance

The Palestinian citizens in Israel are marking the 40th anniversary of Land Day today with massive demonstrations in several Arab villages, including Arrabeh in the Galilee and Umm al-Hayran in the south. This article from our archives provides essential information on the vital issue of land and the rising of 1976, when the Palestinian citizens of Israel revolted against the Israeli government, which had just announced new and extensive land expropriation plans in the Galilee.

On the 29th Anniversary of Palestine Land Day

More from the Halifax Political Forum

HALIFAX (15 April 2004) – March 30 marked Yom-el-Ard, the 29th anniversary of the Day of the Land, a symbol of Palestinian resistance.

On Land Day, 30 March 1976, thousands of Palestinians inside Israel and the West Bank staged a general strike against new orders of expropriating 60,000 dunams of their land in the Galilee which were declared “closed military zones.” After years of military rule, Land Day 1976 was the first act of mass resistance by the Palestinians inside Israel against the Zionist policy of internal colonialization, a systematic process of expropriation that had reduced Palestinian land ownership from around 94 per cent of all territory in pre-1948 Palestine to less than 3 per cent in what is now considered to be Israel. The ensuing clashes with Israeli army and police after the peaceful protests killed six Palestinians, hundreds were wounded and hundreds more jailed. Land Day reaffirmed the Palestinian minority in Israel as an inseparable part of the Palestinian nation.

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Flashback: The day the war broke out

Halifax, March 20, 2003. Hundreds upon hundreds of people take to the streets to condemn the U.S. invasion of Iraq the night before.

In this article from our archives, TONY SEED chronicles the response of Haligonians – and authority – to the first day of the U.S. war against Iraq. Similar demonstrations take place in Shelburne, Wolfville and Antigonish and a silent vigil in Sydney, Cape Breton, as well as in Fredericton, New Brunswick (see below), across Canada and around the world. History shows the correctness of this just stand. The war and ensuing occupation, endorsed and supported by the Chrétien government and every daily newspaper in Canada, caused a terrible tragedy for the people of Iraq and West Asia (Middle East): the number of Iraqis slaughtered is an estimated 1,455,590 people. From reports submitted to Shunpiking Magazine and TML Daily.

(HALIFAX, 20 March 2003) – TODAY a mass democracy meeting broke out at Dalhousie University on Canada’s Atlantic coast against Bush’s barbarous war against Iraq, beginning a day of mass opposition and upheaval that swept across the nation, from east to west, continuing a wave of protest unfolding around the globe, first Oceania, then Asia, the Middle East and Europe and onto the Americas as surely as the earth travels around the sun.

Halifax Symposium on Palestine, 2003

HALIFAX (March 24, 2003) – The first HALIFAX SYMPOSIUM ON PALESTINE – A LAND, A PEOPLE – A HISTORY, A FUTURE was successfully held on the weekend of March 15-16 at Dalhousie University. Over 30 people registered for the Symposium and, including the social function “An Evening with Palestine,” more than 60 people participated from four areas of Nova Scotia in all the proceedings and events.

The atmosphere at the venue of the Conference was warm and lively. Everyone listened with rapt attention as representatives, from eminent historians to student youth, shared their knowledge and experience with the participants. There was a feeling amongst that something new, something very positive, was beginning to take shape, and they are participating in the creation of this new.

The Symposium, initiated by Shunpiking Magazine with the support of six other political and educational organizations including the Canada Palestine Association, was held to broaden the understanding of Palestine at this critical period on the basis of elaborating and discussing themes from the recently-published, book-length Dossier on Palestine.

Halifax Symposium on Palestine, 2003 – Opening Remarks

TONY SEED, March 15, 2003

Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

ON BEHALF of the different sponsoring groups*, we are convening this morning the HALIFAX SYMPOSIUM ON PALESTINE – A LAND, A PEOPLE – A HISTORY, A FUTURE. It will deal with one of the most pressing issues confronting the world today – Palestine and the right of the Palestinian people to self determination, the ceaseless striving of the Palestinian people to exercise control over their own lives which lies at the epicentre of the entire resistance of humanity to imperialist war and subjugation.

This Symposium is open to everyone who wishes to address their concerns or hear the views of others, regardless of their ideological opinions, political affiliation, national origin or any other consideration. Designated speakers who are knowledgeable in their field have been invited to address central issues through presentations or a panel and to provide information for discussion. Several Palestinian student youth have also come forward to come and speak about the problems they are facing as students in defence of their rights.

Report on Iraq: Calgary physician addresses Halifax meeting

(Halifax, February 5, 2003) – OVER 100 PEOPLE attended a forum on February 5 to hear Dr. David Swann report on his recent visit to Iraq. Dr. Swann is former Chief Medical Officer of Alberta’s Palliser Health Authority. He was fired for being in favour of the Kyoto Protocol; after public anger, he was offered his job back, which he turned down. Dr. Swann subsequently went to Iraq as a member of the Iraq Peace Team, to investigate the current situation facing the Iraqi people. He has been on a speaking tour of Canada and spoke the previous evening in New Glasgow. The meeting was organized by the Inter-University Coalition Against the War and held in the FASS Building in Dalhousie University. 

Why Iraq? Oil and U.S. foreign policy

By ISAAC SANEY*

This essay is the text of the paper “Why Iraq?” given on January 29, 2003 to inaugurate the Halifax Political Forums held at Dalhousie University from January to May on the theme “Peace & Nations in the 21st Century: Understanding the Causes of War.” One hundred and three people attended, filling the lecture room to overflowing.

This eleven-part series was aimed at “meeting the widespread demand for analysis of the contemporary situation, combating the massive disinformation about the nature and causes of war, providing clarity, and a venue for discussion.”

Halifax Political Forums inaugurated, hall packed for ‘Why Iraq?’ lecture

THE Halifax Political Forums inaugurated its series of weekly public discussion on January 29 on the topic “Why Iraq? Oil? Weapons of Mass Destruction? U.S. Dictate?” The Series is organized on the overall theme, “Peace & Nations in the 21st Century: Understanding the Causes of War.”

“An estimated 200 million people died in two world wars and 500 regional wars in the 20th century alone,” said Tony Seed, editor and publisher of Shunpiking magazine, pincipal sponsor of the weekly series, as he inaugurated the forum on behalf of its steering committee.

“Yet today mankind is faced with new destructive conflicts and deepening economic and political crises. Who is responsible for the threats to global and regional peace? Is it really ‘outlaw regimes’, an ‘axis of evil’ or ‘failed states’ and nations? How can a genuine and lasting peace be achieved? Who will decide?

“This in-depth public series is aimed at meeting the widespread demand for analysis of the contemporary situation, combating the massive disinformation about the nature and causes of war, and to provide clarity and a weekly venue for discussion.