Israel cordons off West Bank over "Land Day" threat

[dipsydoodle]

(Reuters) - Israel shut crossings into the occupied West Bank on Friday and reinforced patrols along its borders with Lebanon and Syria to try to thwart pro-Palestinian rallies around the country.

Palestinian activists have called for a "Global March to Jerusalem" to coincide with annual Land Day demonstrations by Israel's Arab minority, and say there will be protests in numerous locations to denounce Israeli settlement policy.

Israeli officials say they want to avoid a repeat of violence that flared last May, when its forces opened fire as hundreds of protesters surged towards its borders from Lebanon and Syria, killing several people.

"Forces are deployed widely around the country and they are on alert," Israeli Police Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch told Army Radio. The army announced West Bank crossings would remain shut until midnight on Friday.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/03/30/uk-palestinians-israel-protests-idUKBRE82T09E20120330

[Scurrilous]

1. Scores injured at Qalandia in Land Day protest

<snip>

"Some 1,000 Palestinians and internationals gathered outside the Qalandia checkpoint today to mark Land Day and to protest Israeli occupation, continued settlement of Palestinian land, and restrictions on freedom of movement.

Israeli forces used rubber-coated bullets, tear gas, skunk water, and “the scream” acoustic weapon against demonstrators. Some Palestinian youth burned tires and threw stones.

Israeli forces left the checkpoint area and entered Qalandia, effectively pushing protesters further back from the checkpoint.
Speaking to +972, Dr. Zaid Atabeh of the Palestinian Authority-affiliated Military Medical Services said that 85 protesters had been injured, 12 of whom were hospitalized. All of the injuries were from tear gas and rubber bullets."

<snip>

"Land Day marks the strikes and protests that were held in Israel in 1976 after the state appropriated thousands of dunams of privately-owned Palestinian land. Six Palestinian citizens of the state were killed by Israeli security forces during the 1976 demonstrations, a watershed moment in the Palestinian national struggle and in the crystallization of a Palestinian political and national identity. Protests commemorating the day were held Friday all over Israel and the Palestinian territories."

http://972mag.com/scores-injured-at-qalandia-in-land-day-protest/39640/