Thousands of Arab-Palestinians participated in a march on Wednesday in Israel commemorating the 58th anniversary of the Kafr Qasem massacre, amid a comprehensive strike across the city. Participants in the march dressed in black as a group of students performed a representation of the massacre dressed in Israeli army uniforms and carried guns as they set a checkpoint in the center of the city below a sign announcing a mock curfew.

A statement released by a local popular committee marked the 58th anniversary of the massacre, highlighting that Israeli border guards killed “youths, elderly, women, and children as they were returning home” from the fields. Hadash Knesset members Muhammad Barakeh, Hanna Sweid, Dov Khenin and Afo Agbaria took part in the march.

The popular committee in Kafr Qasem marked the 58th anniversary of the massacre, highlighting that Israeli border guards killed “youths, elderly, women, and children as they were returning home” from the fields (Photo: Panet)

The 1956 massacre took place on the first day of the Suez Canal war, as Israel expected Jordanians to launch an attack in solidarity with Egypt and thus imposed a 24-hour curfew on all Palestinians inside Israel on Oct. 29, 1956 with no prior warning. Residents of the village who returned from their nearby agricultural lands after curfew were slaughtered on sight by Israeli border guards, and the police officers who were found responsible for the deaths were never held responsible. Until 1966, Arab-Palestinians citizens of Israel lived under martial law, and today continue to face widespread discrimination in alls sectors of society.