Rallies set off in many Arab towns in Israel marking the Palestinian Land Day with a major rally in the town of Sakhnin in the Galilee region.
In Sakhnin protesters took to the street while holding Palestinian flags and chanting pro-Palestinian slogans.
The participants also visited the memorial of the six martyrs who were killed by Israeli gunfire while defending their land in 1976.
The Land Day is of special significance to the Palestinians because it was the first time since 1948 that Palestinians in Israel organized a collective response to Israeli policies. It is marked not only by Palestinians within historical Palestine but also by Palestinians all over the world.
This year will also mark 70 years of the Palestinian catastrophe the Nakba and the forced displacement of 750000 Palestinians whose descendants now number millions living as refugees abroad or in the occupied Palestinian territories.
