History and Legacy:
For Palestinians, March 30th embodies the history of our peoples struggle in defense of our land and our struggle to return to it.
In 1976 when the zionist entity announced its plans to seize 20,000 dunams (~4,900 acres) of land in al-Jalil in the north of ‘48 Palestine, Palestinians ignited a wave of widespread protests across Palestine, from the West Bank to Gaza to those in exile. The message was clear: no piece of Palestine – not one dunam – could be taken by the zionists without resistance from all of Palestine. Palestinian local councils and defense committees called for a general strike on March 30th and declared it Yom al-Ard (Land Day). On that day, six Palestinian youth were shot and killed in cold blood by occupation forces while taking part in protests in al-Jalil, becoming the first martyrs of Land Day.
42 years later on March 30th 2018, tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza commemorated Land Day by marching on the eastern border with the occupation demanding their Right to Return. By the end of the day occupation forces had massacred seventeen Palestinian protesters, many of them children and youth, and the Great Return March was born.
This year’s Land Day builds off the unity built by the Unity Intifada in Spring 2021, as Palestinians continue to resist zionist attempts to colonize Palestine from Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan to al-Naqab and Masafer Yatta.
#DefundRacism
This year as part of the #DefundRacism campaign, Within Our Lifetime is mobilizing on Land Day March 30th with Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, the Palestinian Youth Movement, Existence is Resistance, Decolonize This Place, CUNY Law SJP, CUNY NLG and more to protest zionist settler organizations based in NYC that are funding settler-colonialism in Palestine and to amplify the call for them to be defunded and be shutdown.
The #DefundRacism campaign was initiated by Palestinians across historic Palestine to demand an end to the international financing of settler organizations throughout al-Quds and the West Bank, especially financing coming from the United States.
These organizations leverage their tax-exempt status to launder money tax-free into illegal zionist settlements, contrary to not only international law, but to New York State tax regulations, the home state of many of these financiers.
Zionist “charities” in New York that are funding settler organizations in Palestine include:
- Friends of Ir David
- Friends of Ateret Cohanim
- Central Israel Fund
- Hebron Fund
- Friends of Itamar
Take Action
1 – On March 30th, join us on the streets as organizations mobilize from the US to Palestine to #DefundRacism!
For more information about how you can take action and join the campaign to #DefundRacism, visit defundracism.org.