Deputy minister Ayalon calls Jaffa march ‘political terrorism’

Hundreds of Arab Israelis took part in a Land Day procession in Jaffa on Saturday. The demonstrators protested against Jewish house purchases in the city, which they claim have caused a housing shortage for local Arabs.

Knesset Member Hanin Zoabi (Balad) attended the demonstration and denounced the government for its “racist policies towards the Arabs of Jaffa,” Ynet News reported.

“What the state did not finish during the Nakba is continuing today more intensely and in every corner of our country,” Zoabi said. “We see it as nothing less than a declaration of war against us.”

Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon called the annual protest Palestinians mounted over the weekend “political terrorism.”

Speaking in Bat Yam on Saturday, he said, Land Day protests are “a continuation of the diplomatic terrorism (Palestinian Authority President) Abu Mazen is using against Israel in international fora.”

Palestinians have held Land Day demonstrations since 1976 to protest what they describe as discriminatory Israeli land policy.

On Friday about 2,000 Israeli Arabs took part in demonstrations in northern Israel, where much of Israel’s Arab minority lives.

One man was reported dead and 37 injured in clashes between demonstrators and IDF forces in the Gaza Strip. Protests at the Qalandiya checkpoint between Jerusalem and Ramallah raged for hours on Friday.

Tens of thousands of people took part in Land Day demonstrations in Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan, but security forces kept them from marching to the Israeli border. Egyptian forces also intervened to prevent major demonstrations.