Palestinian demonstrators react amidst tear gas smoke fire by Israel forces during a protest to mark land day in village of Madama, south of Nablus, on March 30, 2017 in the Israeli occupied West Bank. Land Day marks the killing of six Arab Israelis during 1976 demonstrations against Israeli confiscations of Arab land.

Demonstration in the West Bank to mark Land Day turns violent

Madama, West Bank. 30 march 2017. A demonstration to commemorate Land Day in the West Bank village of Madama, in the south of Nablus, turned violent as the Palestinians demonstrators clashed with the Israeli Security Forces. Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the Palestinian demonstrators, who in turn were throwing rocks at them. The protest was infiltrated by masked Israeli settlers. According to the Palestinian Red Crescent 45 Palestinians were injured on the scene, while no injuries of Israeli soldiers were reported. Land Day, which falls on March 30 of each year since 1976, commemorates the first act of Palestinians’ collective civil disobedience against the continuous expropriation of Palestinian lands by Israel. The 1976 Palestinian protest was crushed by Israeli forces and resulted in the death of six Palestinian demonstrators as well as  the injury of more than a 100

Photographer: Mohammed Turabi/IMAGESLIVE