Sabra and Shatila: The unforgettable, unforgivable, Israeli massacre against Palestinians - 1982
Update (16 Sept 2008): One of the videos below was removed by YouTube, no surprise here. The reason is as usual, “This video has been removed due to terms of use violation.” Before they remove the second video, I’m cross posting it somewhere else outside YouTube ZioTube. Link will be provided below the video.
There’s another significant anniversary this week, but not one that’s attracted the sort of attention the 11 September commemorations have.
On the morning of Saturday, September 18th, 1982, reporters entering the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila near Beirut, Lebanon, were met with a ghastly sight. Piles of bodies littered the dusty streets of the camps, mass graves had been hastily constructed and buildings had been bulldozed over corpses. The slaughtered were old men, women, and children. A massacre had taken place here. The estimated death toll were in thousands.
What had happened here? What could have provoked this type of inhuman slaughter? Who did this?
These were the questions that punctuated the silence of the morning after the killing stopped. These questions are still asked today, more than two decades after the events had transpired.
To try to answer these question, lets read history again:
On 6 June 1982, the Israeli army invaded Lebanon in what it described as ‘retaliation’ for the attempted assassination of Israeli Ambassador Argov in London on 4 June. The invasion, soon dubbed “Operation Peace for Galilee,” progressed rapidly. By 18 June 1982, Israel had surrounded the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) armed forces in the western part of the Lebanese capital. A cease-fire, mediated by United States Envoy Philip Habib, resulted in the PLO evacuation of Beirut on 1 September 1982.
On 11 September 1982, Israeli Defence Minister Ariel Sharon, the architect of the invasion, announced that “2,000 terrorists” had remained inside the Palestinian refugee camps around Beirut. On Wednesday 15 September, the day after the assassination of Israeli-allied Phalangist militia leader and Lebanese President-elect Bashir Gemayel, the Israeli army occupied West Beirut, “encircling and sealing” the camps of Sabra and Shatila, which were inhabited by Lebanese and Palestinian civilians. Israel justified its move into West Beirut by a need to maintain order and stability after Gemayel’s assassination. However, several days later, Ariel Sharon told the Knesset, Israel’s parliament: “Our entry into West Beirut was in order to make war against the infrastructure left by the terrorists”.
The Israeli army then disarmed, as far as they were able, anti-Israeli militias in West Beirut, while leaving the Christian Phalangist militias in East Beirut fully armed. By mid-day on 15 September 1982, the refugee camps were entirely surrounded by Israeli tanks and soldiers, who installed checkpoints at strategic locations and crossroads around the camps in order to monitor the entry or exit of any person. During the late afternoon and evening of that day, the camps were shelled.
Around mid-day on Thursday 16 September 1982, a unit of approximately 150 Israeli-allied-armed Phalangists (or that’s what Israel claim) entered the first camp. For the next 40 hours members of the Phalangist militia raped, killed, and injured a large number of unarmed civilians, mostly children, women and elderly people inside the encircled and sealed camps. The estimate of victims varies between 700 (the official Israeli figure) to 3,500. The victims and survivors of the massacres have never been deemed entitled to a formal investigation of the tragedy, since Israel’s Kahan Commission did not have a judicial mandate and was not backed up by legal force.
This is considered the bloodiest single massacre by Israeli Terrorist Army and it’s claimed allies, but one can think that it will not be last. especially after what we saw in last Israeli war on Lebanon.
If Americans approached the 11 September anniversary with trepidation, many residents of Shatila camp, and its more run-down neighbor Sabra, have been dreading the milestone on Saturday which marks 24 years of pain and the futile search for justice.
For Palestinians, it will certainly be a far cry from the ceremonies in New York and Washington, where American leaders told the world that its pre-eminent military power was going to ensure that justice for the victims would triumph over evil whatever the cost.
The Palestinian survivors of the 1982 massacres will probably gather for speeches at the place where their loved-ones were buried en masse - a dusty vacant lot marked by a pathetic temporary monument of breezeblocks.
But there will be no internationally-observed minute’s silence for the innocent victims of Sabra and Shatila, or global news coverage about the survivors and their miserable existence at the scene of this evil crime.
Above video available here: http://blip.tv/file/1266909/
Also can be downloaded from here: http://tinyurl.com/6ry5rf
(couldn’t find any better documentary video than the above. However, you can find here the BBC report a day following the massacre).
Related Links:
# International Campaign for Justice for the Victims of Sabra & Shatila
# Eye-witness: Dr.Ang Swee Chai
# Sabra and Shatila: Dealing with facts - BBC
# Israeli Soldiers Participated in the Massacre
# Sabra and Shatila: Uncovered at last?
# Why Sharon is a War Criminal
Update: Found the following video documentary via Khaled’s blog
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35 Comments on “Sabra and Shatila: The unforgettable, unforgivable, Israeli massacre against Palestinians - 1982”
Did anyone notice the date of September 11, 1982.
This should raise some eyebrows!
I am starting even more now to understand now the hatred of the US and Israel from the Islamic countries.
The pictures touched me more than you can believe.
I am sorry for this tradegy. This should have never happened.
And they did it again in Lebanon in 2006. This time it was all over Lebanon.
Bush has ruined the US reputation in the world even more this time.
Again, I am sorry. These events should never have been allowed to happen.
This is one of the worst days in the history of humanity. I still recall the horror I felt while watching the footgae back in 1982. One of the most insulting issues was the fact that the mastermind of the massacre, Ellie Hubeika became a minister in lebanon and one of the most influential Syria allies there.
After the operation was finished, Sharon was asked about it, he answered “So what, non-Jews slaughtered non-Jews”.
In Lebanon, many maronites of those who committed this crime are still alive and are praised by many maronites, they regard them as “historical leaders in the history of Lebanon”, streets are named after them in eastern Beirut, until this day they still conspire and ally with Israel against any non-Maronite power, the last war in Lebanon shows a lot.
During the last war in Lebanon, I watched an interview with Ameen Al Jmayyel (the younger brother of Basheer) he was asked to comment on Nasrullah’s last speech at that time, Ameen, who aroused the maronites with the help of Kareem Baqradoni to committ the genocide after accusing the Palestinians of assassinating his brother, said “I cannot comment on a speech of war, we, the Jmayyels’, are known to be peaceful, I cannot comment on Nasrullah’s violent speech!”
Many many years ago, in 1975, during the civil war in Lebanon, I visited Shatilla with my sister-in-law who was studying at AUB for her degree in public health. AUB was open and closed, off and on, during those days but Shatilla was a place of desperation, even then, prior to this event. Shatilla was not only a place of desperation then, it was also a place of hope of the individuals who wished for a better life, a life in which they could be free to return to their homeland in Palestine and away from the threat to them in Lebanon. The hospitality of those living there is something I will never forget. We were invited into their homes for tea and conversation. The war had affected them even before the massacre. There were bullet holes in the walls of their homes coming from outside attack on them. I was so young, naive and afraid, yet they made me feel welcome and safe. These people should still be with us here, alive and free to obtain the object of their hopes.. Instead, they are with God now, safely in his arms away from the viciousness and attack against them. May we all keep them in our hearts and prayers as well as all the other innocent Palestinians who have died in other attacks. May we all gather in action and prayer that these atrocities will never again happen and that Palestine soon will be free. In solidariy.
Brothers and Sisters,
Today, exactly 24 years ago was a dark day in history that is carved into the consciousness of all Palestinians and decent people of the world. I am of course talking about the brutal murder of over 3000 defenseless Palestinian men, woman and children, who were tortured, raped, devoured, defiled, disemboweled, mutilated and machine-gunned and whose bodies were left scattered throughout the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila in Beirut 1982. This was a crime so heinous that in all the carnage, misery and suffering that has taken place in the dark years since the invasion and usurpation by the Zionists under the abominable “Star of David” over the past 60 years, this particular event is among the most brutal and barbaric in magnitude that it will be forevermore a deep gaping wound in the hearts and minds of all right minded people of the world, and especially in the soul of the Palestinian/Lebanese/Syrian people.
This cowardly and monstrous attack was engineered by no other than the invading Zionist mad dogs in collusion with the spineless and treasonous Phalangist militia. What took place over those 48 hours was an expression of the lowest and most criminally demented and deranged behaviour known to mankind, which many of us will never be able to comprehend or even imagine, not even in our worst nightmares.
May the spirit of all those defiled and murdered in those camps rest in peace, and may the survivors who have been condemned to live find the strength to persevere over adversity and continue to keep the flame of hope alive.
It is up to us to keep their memory alive and ensure they did not die in vain. It is up to us to put value on our own. It is up to us to give a voice to the voiceless and to hear their broken cries. And it is up to us to put value on the blood of our own.
Truth and Justice must prevail.
May their memory be eternal.
16th of September, 2006
Salim V. Zaccak
Uh, it wasn’t an “Israeli” massacre. The Israelis didn’t do it. Christian Lebanese people did it.
Only you anti-Israel lunatics would call something Christian Lebanese people did an “Israeli” thing.
This act was evil through and through. It is the same kind of evil that has killed so many all over the world. The massacre and genocide of the Armenians, the Chinese in Nanking, Cambodia, Rwanda, Ukraine under Stalin. the Balkans war, and the 65 million people slaughtered in WW2
And that is just in the last century. Go back a few years to the Irish Famine or a bit further to systematic killing of the Native populations during the invasion and conquest of both North and South America. Further than that, the Inquisition, Witch hunts, the crusades. There is no way to mention all of the atrocities which have been committed or count the numbers of the unknown dead throughout history.
This is an evil which has been walking and working the people of the earth for it’s own advantage for hundreds, maybe thousands of years. It is called Ponerology. Propagated by Psychopaths, it orchestrates it’s terrible plans through the Pathocracy.
Never heard of Ponerology? It is “The Scientific Study of Evil Adjusted for Political Purposes” and behooves every single one of us to learn of this evil so that it can be identified and stopped. This does not mean more murder or death. It means we must educate ourselves. It is only after we learn to recognize how we are manipulated, how the truth is twisted and how easy it is for the Pathocrats to set one person against the other under the name of ‘country’ or ‘religion’ that real people everywhere will be able to stand up and marginalize these beings who have no empathy, no feelings and use ordinary people for power plays in a world fast approaching a point of no return.
I can honestly say that having read this book has opened my eyes to how this evil works and encourage you to read it to learn for yourself.
to hello; the Israeli army was guarding the entrance to the camps, and Israeli commandors were watching the massacre that was led by Elie Hobieka and planned between Sharon and basheer Jemayel, one day before Basheer was assasinated. This is all documented in the Cahan investigation report.
Again I feel so mad that Hobeika was never punished for his crime and became Syria’s best agent in lebanon and a minister in the cabinet in the 1990s.
hello,
You have to look at the big picture!
The US is supporting the Israelis. Both are using everything they can to further their cause.
The Israelis are stealing land and controlling their occupied land which included Lebanese land then.
They don’t care about the Geneva Convention.
They only care about occupying land that they steal.
If they can use anyone to do their dirty work they will.
The blame is still on Israel!
On top of this blame you made on the Christians. Did you know that your President is a Christian. He accepted this massacre?
If he didn’t then why didn’t he question it?
Because he supports the Zionists, no matter what!
The US is sinking deeper than ever into a cesspool of bullsh*t by their politicians to cover their lies or to support their lobbyist support of money recieved.
Which is the truth?
The massacre of Sabra and Shatila is by all means a regrettable war crime. On the other hand if you know anything about the war in Lebanon you’d understand that the Lebanese war (which started way before 1975 and is still going on today) is retaliation to a retaliation of retaliation. I’m talking about young teenagers who are brought up in a hatred environment, hating other races, religions and each other. It is unfortunate for Lebanon and the Lebanese people to be a battlefield for the world to fight their wars, from US, Britain, Israel, Iran, France, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Palestine, Libya, Russia, and Eastern Europe… Looking now at the Massacre we’d be shocked but let’s not forget the Palestinian fighters who killed, raped and desecrated Christian villages and people. Lebanon welcomed the Palestinian refugees, gave them food and shelter and built them refugee camps. Instead of being thankful, they started harassing Christians, making checkpoints, walking around with weapons and threatening the independence of Lebanon. Mr. Yasser Arafat was quoted saying that the road to Jerusalem is from Jounieh (a Christian Lebanese port city). This is not an excuse for the massacre, but I know for a fact that people who participated in this horrible day were on Opium and Cocaine and were pumped by the Israeli army. Also the cutting of throats was not invented by the Christian militias or Israelis or even the Muslim militias. It was first performed by Palestinians who have lost there land and decided to take sides with Muslims against Christians causing a civil war with hundred thousands of casualties on all sides.
Please try to understand that the war is not as simple as it looks. It is a bunch of wealthy European people who control the world and secret societies such as Illuminati and Free Masons who create and manage wars for control of world power. Lebanon is just a small battlefield for setting scores.
This is why we are all here on this planet, Lord’s planning for Heaven and Hell. Lord’s plans are beyond human imagination. If we are forgiven, we’ll find people of Shatila and Sabra playing in Heaven.