Israeli Arabs mark tense ‘Land Day

Thousands of Israeli Arabs demonstrated against perceived racial discrimination in the Jewish state.

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Thousands of Israeli Arabs demonstrated against perceived racial discrimination in the Jewish state.

Mass rallies were held Sunday across Israel by Arabs who accuse the state of systematically seizing their lands for projects favoring the Jewish majority.

The annual event, dubbed “Land Day,” has been tense since it was launched March 30, 1976 and featured riots in which police killed six Israeli Arab protesters.

Many of Sunday’s demonstrations featured Palestinian flags and denunciations of Zionism, underscoring for many Jewish Israelis the tensions with an Arab minority that comprises 20 percent of the population and is growing.

Effi Eitan of the National Religious Party accused Israeli Arab leaders of using Land Day to promote sedition.

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