Angry scenes as Israeli Arabs and Palestinians mark ‘Land Day’

There have been angry scenes as Israel’s Arab minority and Palestinians staged annual ‘Land Day’ demonstrations. The March 30 event commemorates the killing by security forces of six Arabs in 1976 during protests over government land confiscations in northern Israel. In the West Bank violence broke out at the rallies. Amid clashes with Israeli security forces at the Hawara checkpoint near Nablus, Palestinians said several protesters suffered the effects of smoke inhalation. Tension has been particularly high between Israel and the Palestinians since peace talks collapsed in April last year. April 2015 is also a landmark month. It will see the Palestinians formally join the International Criminal Court – a move they hope will see proceedings launched against the Israelis.