Date: 29/3/2026
On the 50th Anniversary of Land Day
It called on the international community to take immediate steps to halt the occupation’s policies aimed at uprooting our Palestinian people from their land, and to stop the crimes of forced displacement and ethnic cleansing.
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The Refugee Affairs Department of the Palestine Liberation Organization affirmed today, on the 50th anniversary of Land Day, which falls tomorrow, Monday, that our Palestinian people will remain steadfast in holding on to their land and their national and inalienable rights, and are capable of thwarting all Israeli occupation plans aimed at uprooting, displacing, and liquidating their national cause.
In a press statement, the Department said that Land Day constitutes a pivotal national milestone in the history of Palestinian struggle and embodies the unity of our people at home and in the diaspora around their land and their inalienable national rights, foremost among them the right of return, self-determination, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
It pointed out that Land Day will remain a testament to the firmness of Palestinian national identity and the rootedness of the Palestinian people in their land, despite the systematic Israeli colonial policies targeting their national and geographic existence, aiming to uproot them from their land and impose new realities by force.
It explained that Land Day comes this year amid an ongoing Israeli war of genocide against our Palestinian people, and a systematic aggression targeting Palestinian refugee camps, population centers, and the national and social fabric of our people through destruction, forced displacement, and attempts to empty the land of its inhabitants. It noted that targeting Palestinian refugee camps—given their national, political, and humanitarian symbolism for the refugee cause and the right of return—confirms that what is happening today is a direct continuation of the policies of uprooting and displacement that our people have faced for decades, and that our people will remain steadfast in their land and national rights despite all attempts at breaking and liquidation.
The statement continued: “This national occasion, commemorated by our Palestinian people on March 30 of each year, in remembrance of the uprising of our people inside the homeland in 1976 in defense of the land and in rejection of confiscation and uprooting plans, and in honor of the martyrs who fell in that confrontation, will remain a living national testament to the deep connection of the Palestinian to their land, the rootedness of their national identity, and their determination to defend their rights and national constants no matter how much the occupation’s policies and aggression escalate.”
It added that the Israeli occupation continues to target Palestinian land through open confiscation, silent annexation, settlement expansion, the displacement of Bedouin communities, and the imposition of facts by force, in an attempt to impose Israeli sovereignty over Palestinian land and undermine any opportunity to realize an independent Palestinian state.
It further indicated that the escalation in settlement activity, land seizure, expansion of settlement outposts, imposition of control over areas classified as (C), and attempts to undermine Palestinian authority in areas classified as (B), reflect a dangerous Israeli direction aimed at imposing a permanent colonial reality, fragmenting Palestinian geography, and systematically and deliberately undermining the two-state solution.
It clarified that targeting Palestinian land is inseparable from targeting the issue of Palestinian refugees and their right of return, as the Israeli project is fundamentally based on uprooting the Palestinian people from their land, erasing their national identity, and imposing a colonial reality at the expense of their historical and legitimate existence.
It stressed that Palestinian national unity today constitutes a national and political necessity to confront the Israeli colonial project, emphasizing that rallying around the Palestine Liberation Organization, the sole legitimate representative of our Palestinian people, represents a national safety valve to protect rights and constants and to strengthen our people’s steadfastness.
It called on the international community, the United Nations, the Security Council, the European Union, and all concerned international parties to assume their legal, political, and moral responsibilities and to take immediate and practical steps to halt the occupation’s policies aimed at uprooting our Palestinian people from their land, and to stop the crimes of forced displacement, ethnic cleansing, settlement expansion, annexation, land confiscation, and home demolitions.
It stressed that the continued impunity has encouraged the occupation government to persist in its aggression and crimes, calling for a serious international position that provides international protection for our Palestinian people and obliges Israel to respect international law and the resolutions of international legitimacy.
