Palestinian demonstrators wave Palestine’s flags during a rally marking Land Day in Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestine, March 30, 2012. Photo: AP.
Multiple Palestinian Resistance factions put out statements on Land Day, commemorating this year’s event, which coincides with Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.
The Islamic Resistance Movement – Hamas affirmed that Operation Al-Aqsa Flood is an extension of the Palestinian people’s struggle to achieve their legitimate rights, liberation of their land, and return to their homeland.
Hamas made these remarks in a statement released on the Palestinian Land Day, which is commemorated on March 30. The movement released a five-point paper, detailing its outlook for the future of the Palestinian cause on this day.
First, Hamas stressed that Palestine’s historic land, with its capital al-Quds and the holy al-Aqsa Mosque, is the core cause of the struggle with the “Zionist enemy”, adding that the only way to liberate Palestine is through consolidating acts of “comprehensive resistance” and strengthening national unity.
Second, Hamas promised to remain loyal to the Palestinian martyrs, adding that it “will not give up an inch of” Palestinian land and holy sites, “no matter the sacrifices.”
Third, the movement lauded the Resistance and its fighters, the Palestinian people in the West Bank, worshippers in al-Quds and al-Aqsa Mosque, Palestinians in occupied ’48 territories, and Palestinians who have been expelled to refugee camps and countries around the world, calling on them to expand their actions in support of Gaza.
Fourth, the Resistance movement said that the struggle to promote and achieve the rights of Palestinians is not solely a Palestinian issue, underlining the Arab, Islamic, and global nature of the fight calling on all the free people of the world to uphold their respective responsibilities as soon as possible.
Fifth, Hamas called on all people of the world, specifically Arabs and Muslims, to escalate their actions in support of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, expose the crimes of the Israeli occupation, and stop the genocidal war by any means possible.
Palestinian Land Day has been commemorated by Palestinians on March 30 of each year since 1976 when Israeli forces seized thousands of dunams of privately owned or communal lands in al-Jalil, in occupied 48′ Palestinian territories. The event led to a general strike and popular marches from al-Jalil al-Naqqab, in addition to confrontations resulting in the martyrdom of six Palestinians, while hundreds were injured or detained.
PFLP: Protests in normalizing Arab countries are a beacon of hope
Echoing the Hamas’ call for mobilization and affirming the Palestinian people’s right to resist the Israeli occupation, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) put out a statement hailing the importance of Land Day as a unifying event for the Palestinian people.
The PFLP called on the Palestinian people in occupied 48′ territories, who led the events that established Land Day, to confront the racist policies of the Israeli government.
“What was taken by force can only be retrieved by force and not by [political settlements] that led to a real disaster for our people,” the PFLP reiterated on Land Day.
The PFLP also lambasted the United States’ role in supporting the genocidal war on the Palestinian people, as well as the Biden administration’s mobilization to meddle in inter-Palestinian affairs. The Front stressed that only the Palestinian people have the right to decide the future of their governing system.
To conclude, the PFLP pointed to mass protests in several Arab countries, specifically ones that have normalized relations with “Israel”, saying that these developments are a “beacon of hope” for the Front and the Arab nation.
On its part, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) reiterated the necessity of unity in the Palestinian political scene, calling on political actors to uphold the outcomes of high-level meetings in Moscow and work toward holding further national talks and meetings.
