land confiscation

Young Palestinians march from Sakhnin to Deir Hanna during a Land Day rally, northern Israel, March 30, 1983. (GPO)

Fifty years on, does Land Day still matter for Palestinians in Israel?

Sociologist Nabih Bashir reflects on the enduring legacy of the 1976 uprising against land confiscation, at a time of war, fragmentation, and political impasse.

By Noor Dadosh March 30, 2026

The fence bisecting the West Bank village of Sinjil, north of Ramallah, June 25, 2025. (Mohammad Ghafri)

The suffocation of Sinjil

Encaging the West Bank town with barbed wire, Israel has cut off residents’ land and left others exposed to settler attacks, including a recent lynching.

By Shatha Yaish July 14, 2025

Israeli forces prevent the residents of the Palestinian village of Az-Zuweidin from grazing on their private pastures and arrest three Palestinians, southern West Bank, May 4, 2024. (Omri Eran Vardi/Activestills)

In the West Bank, Palestinian unemployment is now Israeli policy

After October 7, Israel revoked the work permits of more than 150,000 Palestinians. On top of spiraling settler attacks, my village faces financial ruin.

By Haitham S. January 21, 2025

Latest

Muhammad Ghunaimat in Al-Ahly Hospital, Hebron, occupied West Bank, April 24, 2022. (Basil al-Adraa)

After blocking West Bank road, settlers open fire and wound Palestinians

A teenager is among those wounded after Israeli settlers and soldiers shot live rounds at Palestinians trying to remove roadblocks near the village of Surif.

By Basel Adra April 27, 2022

Palestinians clash with Israeli security forces following a protest to mark Land Day in the village of Madama near Nablus, in the West Bank, March 30, 2017. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)

Land grabs in Israel never ended — they became more sophisticated

From maintaining British Mandate laws to turning land into national parks, Israel is dispossessing Palestinian citizens to this day, says lawyer Salim Wakim.

By Suha Arraf March 31, 2021

Israeli authorities uproot olive trees in order to pave a settler bypass road, Izbat Tabib, West Bank, January 16, 2017. (Keren Manor/Activestills.org)

WATCH: Palestinians and Israelis fight land West Bank land grab

Several weeks ago, Israeli activists tried to reach the Palestinian village of Izbat Tabib to take part in protests against land confiscations. The Israeli army had decided to uproot hundreds of Palestinian olive trees in order to build a settler road. Soldiers would not let the activists’ bus pass through the checkpoint, declaring the area a closed military zone.…

By Social TV January 29, 2017

Israeli soldiers provoke Palestinian farmers and volunteers while planting olive trees and tiling soil to protest the recent Israeli military order that would confiscate about three Dunams of Palestinian private lands for 'security reasons' for the nearby settlement of Yitzhar, Asira Al-Qibliya village, near Nablus, West Bank, January 26, 2017. (Ahmad al-Bazz/Activestills.org)

PHOTOS: Palestinians plant trees to defy Israeli land confiscation

Palestinian farmers and volunteers plant olive trees to protest an Israeli military order to confiscate Palestinian land for one of the most extreme settlements in the West Bank. Photos and text by Ahmad al-Bazz / Activestills.org The Israeli army on Thursday tried to prevent some 50 Palestinian farmers and volunteers from planting olive trees and tilling…

By Activestills January 26, 2017

Children sit atop belongings that were recovered from their home, which was demolished by Israeli authorities.

Israel is pulling the West Bank out from under Palestinian feet

With over 14,000 demolition orders issued against Palestinian structures in Area C since 1988, Israel is maintaining a vast system of control-by-threat that at once dispossesses and undermines social stability. Israel has issued over 14,000 demolition orders against Palestinian structures in Area C of the West Bank since 1988, according to a new report released…

By Natasha Soffer-Roth September 11, 2015

Members of the ‘Clown Army’ confront Israeli security forces during a solidarity protest in the Palestinian village of Susya, June 22, 2012. (Photo by Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Has the IDF found a way to climb down the Susya tree?

Up against extraordinarily harsh diplomatic pressure from its closest allies, Israel seems to have found a way to save face without creating too much of a fuss — at least temporarily. With more or less the entire Western world warning Israel not to demolish the Palestinian village of Susya and forcefully displace its residents, it…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man July 26, 2015

An Israeli settlement water tank stands near the Ibrahimi Mosque or Tomb of the Patriarchs in the West Bank city of Hebron.

The many denials of liberal Zionism

From its origins until today, liberal Zionism has been unable to reconcile Israeli policies of dispossession and military control with the image of a democratic state. Is it merely a matter of semantics, or inherent to the ideology? Part two of Ran Greenstein’s analysis. By Ran Greenstein As discussed in the previous part of this…

By +972 Magazine October 6, 2014

File photo of an Israeli soldier approaching a Palestinian child during the olive harvest near Qedumim, West Bank, Octover 14, 2008. (Photo by Keren Manor/Activestills.org)

‘Land isn’t enough; the army takes olives, too’

I teach writing at a Palestinian university in the West Bank. Several of my students have been gracious enough to share their experiences with +972, albeit anonymously. This is the second of four short essays. Read part one here. I went with my family to our olive groves in order to pick olives. We went…

By Mya Guarnieri Jaradat April 7, 2014

Ben Gurion Airport. (joshuapiano/CC BY 2.0)

Just another interrogation: My encounter with the Shin Bet

For one Palestinian citizen of Israel, interrogations by the Shin Bet are a routine which include delays and harassment for no apparent reason. By Awad Abdel Fattah I was fortunate this week. I had a quick and easy crossing from Jordan back into Israel. No delays, no questions, no invasive body searches and no lengthy rummaging…

By +972 Magazine April 3, 2013