Palestinians are commemorating on Sunday March 30, the anniversary of "Land Day", to express the strong bond with their land, and their right to defend it. The Higher Arab Monitoring Committee called in a statement for national unity by abiding by mass strikes covering all territories occupied by Israel in 1948. It also called for taking part in various public activities including rallies in Arab villages that witnessed the killings of Palestinians by Israeli forces, besides wreath-laying at their memorials. In response to the Israeli government's announcement of a plan to expropriate thousands of dunams of land for security and settlement purposes, general strikes and marches were organized in Arab towns from the Galilee to the Negev. In the ensuing confrontations with the Israeli army and police, six unarmed Arab citizens were killed, about one hundred were wounded, and hundreds others arrested.