Sunday the 29th March 2026 in Naarm/Melbourne, Australia saw thousands gather for the 50th anniversary of Palestinian Land Day, which falls on the 30th of March. The rally was organised by Free Palestine Melbourne. Land Day as described by ‘The Palestinian Information Centre’ is:
The events of Land Day erupted on March 30, 1976, when Palestinians inside 1948 occupied Palestine confronted sweeping land confiscation decisions. Six Palestinians were killed, and hundreds were injured and arrested. This turning point became an annual symbol embodying the struggle over land and identity. Since then, Land Day has remained a unifying occasion that reinforces national awareness and affirms that the conflict with the occupation continues to revolve around control of the land and the reshaping of Palestinian geography through settlement and annexation. – The Palestinian Information Centre
“..today we are here to mark Land Day. It is a day in which we celebrate Palestinian resistance. A day in which we continue to commit ourselves to advocate and organise against occupation, to resist against occupation, to resist against colonisation, to resist against genocide, to resist against Israel. Not only do we make that commitment against Israel’s occupation in Palestine. But we make that commitment against Israel’s attempts to occupy and colonise Lebanon as well. Right now, we are witnessing exactly what Palestinians have been warning us for over 77 years. We are witnessing Israel and actually carry out its project of a greater Israel… Right now, in this moment, we have a choice to make. Are we going to stand by as we have for the last 77 years and allow Israel to continue to occupy land, continue to annex land, continue to carry out genocide and human rights violations? No. Are we going to stand on the side of justice, liberation, freedom and equality? No to occupation, no to colonisation, no to genocide, no to human rights violations..”
Rand Khatib – Palestinian Organiser, BDS Youth Convener”
“..But what the occupiers failed to understand is Land Day was not just a protest. It was a declaration, a declaration that Palestinians will not disappear. A declaration that we belong to our land. Land Day represents a heroic confrontation with colonisation, a refusal to accept a system built on our disposition. But the reality today, the reality did not end in 1976. It continued today It’s continued today in Gaza, in the West Bank, in Jerusalem, in Syria, Iraq, everywhere. We mobilize here because we refuse to be silent. Silence is not a new reality. It is complicity. We mobilise because justice is never given. It is forced through pressure, through resistance, and through people who refuse to look away..
Muayad Ali – Palestinian Activist & Organiser”
“..We have to continue to accept the risks that organising and calling for a free Palestine involves. Those of us on the flotilla know the risks. Past participants have been detained, have been kidnapped, have been beaten, have been subjected to sexual violence. Participants have been killed. But the real danger, the thing I am scared of, more than the Israeli army, more than the Zionist entity, is the thought of living in a world where we have lost our humanity, where people do not take that step, do not feel it is their moral responsibility to break an illegal siege. That’s what I’m afraid of. And as far as I see it, every soldier the Israelis send to intercept the flotilla is a soldier they are not sending to Iran, not sending to Syria, not sending to occupy southern Lebanon, That’s part of the effect we can have on the flotilla as well. So my core reaction for everyone here and the thousands of others in our movement all around so called Australia is to keep your eyes on the flotilla. But more importantly, to not let the story become about us. The flotilla is and always has been a way of drawing the eyes of the world back to Gaza..
Ethan Floyd – Wiradjuri, Wailwan and Ngiyampaa Organiser joining Global Sumud Flotilla”
“..We are witnessing the targeting of truth itself. Journalists continue to be attacked, including a CNN crew filming in the West Bank recently. Shame! People whose role is only to document, to report, to show the world what is happening, targeted with impunity. Shame! And ambulances, they are not even safe. They will be targeted. We’ve been told that. They will be killed. Their purpose is to save lives. That’s their purpose. Their one purpose is to save lives. To carry the injured to safety. Women, men, children, elders. But we’re being told very clearly they are not safe. Even they will be targeted. Even they will be killed. Shame on them! What does that tell us? This is not about land. This is not about self-defense. This is about silencing. This is about control. This is about suffering happening without witnesses..
Jamal Hakin – Democracy in Colour Chair”
Rally Organisers
Free Palestine Naarm
IG: @freepalestinemelb
W: freepalestinevic.org
