(April 1) - For a country engulfed by violence during the past six months, Israel was justifiably bracing itself for the worst this past Friday, which marked the 25th annual commemoration of Land Day by Israel's Arab community. The rallies and protests epitomizing the day have in past years degenerated into violent attacks against the security forces, raising Arab-Jewish tensions and sharpening the ethnic divide in Israeli society.

Senior police officials were reportedly concerned that various mischief-makers, such as the Palestinian Authority and extremist elements among Israel's Arabs, would seek to inflame passions in the hopes of sparking widespread violence. Though Israeli vehicles were stoned in Nazareth and near the Rimon junction, and Jewish worshipers had to be evacuated from the Western Wall in Jerusalem after Palestinians shamefully threw rocks at the holy site, the day largely passed with little unrest inside pre-1967 Israel.

Much of the credit for the relative quiet on Land Day belongs to Internal Security Minister Uzi Landau, who devoted a great deal of time in recent weeks to opening channels of dialogue and communication with the leadership of the Israeli Arab community. Together with senior police officials, Landau held a series of meetings with Israeli Arab leaders, which no doubt helped to ensure that conflict between the police and protesters would be kept to a minimum. In an opinion piece published in The Jerusalem Post on Friday, Landau thoughtfully explained the dilemma he faced in trying to ensure the freedom of expression of the protesters while ensuring public order and security. By firmly insisting on a policy of zero-tolerance for violence, he rightly made clear that any type of provocative shenanigans would not be permitted. Given the current political tension in the region, where a single incident could potentially trigger a region-wide calamity, it is no exaggeration to say that Landau's foresight and prudence might very well have saved numerous lives, both Jewish and Arab.

Unfortunately, much of the annual tension surrounding Land Day results from the all-too-familiar phenomenon of history being mixed with myth, in the process blurring what really occurred. The facts of what happened are as follows: On March 11, 1976, the Israeli government published a plan to expropriate approximately 21,000 dunams (5,250 acres) of land in the Galilee. As Ori Nir of Ha'aretz has pointed out, only 31 percent of the land in question, or less than one-third, was Arab-owned, some of which was to be used to expand the Arab village of Majar near Acre and to build public buildings in Arab towns. Nevertheless, the most prominent political party in the Arab sector at the time, Rakah (The New Communist List), cynically decided to seize upon the decision and called a general strike for March 30. Riots broke out the night before - in which soldiers and police were attacked with stones and firebombs - and continued the following day, resulting in the deaths of six Israeli Arabs. Though it has come to be portrayed by much of the media as a day upon which Israeli Arabs peacefully vented their frustrations, Land Day was in fact born in violence, the product of the machinations of a political party that proudly waved the dubious banner of Marxism-Leninism.

One cannot help but be astonished, then, by the decision by various members of Peace Now to take part in the Land Day protests this past Friday. The culmination of the day's events was a mass rally held in Sakhnin, where thousands of protesters, including Peace Now members, gathered after taking part in local marches in their home communities. Participants chanted anti-government slogans, but were also seen waving PLO and Syrian flags. This came just days after the Syrian president asserted that Israel's actions were worse than those of the Nazis, and at a time when the PLO's main faction, Fatah, is openly involved in acts of terror against Israelis. One can only hope that the organization will see fit to publicly condemn such behavior, because failure to do so amounts to condoning it.

Also disturbing is that members of Israel's Arab community, who claimed to be marching because they seek equality, would openly identify with the country's enemies. At other Land Day events, protesters reportedly unfurled Hizbullah banners and carried posters of the late Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, who is best remembered for his vow to throw Israel into the sea. If Israeli society is ever to succeed in building bridges between its Jewish majority and Arab minority, it will come about only through greater mutual understanding and tolerance.

Chanting slogans in favor of those who seek the Jewish state's demise only undermines such efforts. If the leadership of the Israeli Arab community truly wishes to mend the divisions in Israeli society, they can start by casting out the extremists in their midst. Such a step would go a long way toward healing the fissures between Jews and Arabs, and restore the public's otherwise shaky confidence in their desire for true integration and partnership.