‘May Day’ is a ‘Mourn Day’ for Ein al Zeitun Massacre

May Day is May 1, International Workers' Day. It is recognized internationally for the celebration of the social and economic achievements of the international labor movement. Put for Palestinians, this day has more than celebration. It is a mourn day.

It was not enough that Palestinians should have their homes and farmland stolen; they faced the death penalty if they should try to carry out any of their belongings with them!

Sometimes a villager would try to sneak back to his home to save some of his worldly possessions. His fate was often death at the hands of the Zionists. Ein al Zeitun massacre is one of many examples that shows the barbaric history of Zionists in Palestine.

Ethnically cleansed 'Ayn al-Zaytun', District Of Safad (photo source: Palestine Remembered)

'Ein ez Zeitun' (also known as Ein Zaytun, Ein ez Zeitun, Ain el Zeitun, Ayn-al-Zaytun, etc) is a village on the northern outskirts of the city of Safad, with a population of approximately 900 Palestinian Arabs, It became the scene of barbarous cruelties.

Timeline: (source: Palestine Encyclopedia)

19 JANUARY 1948 Galilee. 0800 hours, Safad. Near Ein Zeitun village, armed Jews attempted to hold up an Arab bus. When T.J.F.F. troopers arrived on the scene, the Jews retired towards Ein Zeitim Colony. No shots were fired during the incident.

29 JANUARY 1948 Galilee. 1525 hours, Safad. It was reported that, throughout the day, Arab males and females working in fields near Ein Zeitoun came under fire which is believed to have come from the direction of Ein Zeitim Colony.

2 FEBRUARY 1948 1030 hours, Jews from Ein Zeitim stole Arab truckload of flour. Arabs attacked Jewish colony. Troops restored order. 1 truckload flour stolen.

2 FEBRUARY 1948 Galilee. Morning, Safad. Two Arab trucks loaded with flour and traveling from Haifa to Safad were fired on near Ein Zeitim Colony. One of the trucks was forced to stop, and the driver was allegedly taken into the colony.

7 APRIL 1948 Galilee. 2200 hours, Safad. On the Acre/Safad road near Ein Zeitoun village, fire was directed at an Arab taxi from the Jewish Quarter of Safad. A passenger in the vehicle, Ribbi Khadouri of Safad, was wounded and died whilst being conveyed to the hospital.

11 APRIL 1948 Galilee. 0830 hours, Safad. An Arab truck proceeding from Safad to Bin Zeitun was fired on from the Jewish Quarter of Safad. Military personnel returned the fire. There were no casualties.

May 1, 1948 - The massacre day:

The attack on Ein al Zeitun was conducted by the 3rd Battalion of the Palmach* under the command of Moshe Kelman, as a preliminary operation to relieve the Arab siege of the Jewish quarter of Safed. Davidka mortar bombs were used for the first time. The village was taken without much difficulty. Most of the villagers fled during the battle, and the remainder, apart from 30-100 men aged 20-40 were forcibly expelled afterwards.

The Palmach soldiers then began to destroy the village. Palmach officer Elad Peled recalled that:

"at noon, our men began blowing up the village. The intoxication of victory blinded them and they went berserk, breaking and destroying property. The Jews of Safad saw Ein Zeitun blown up and crushed, and were overjoyed." (Morris p. 233, Abbasi p. 14)

According to Palmach soldier Nativa Ben-Yehuda, the captive men were tied up and thrown into the deep gully between Ein al Zeitun and left for two days. Kelman then decided to "get rid of this problem altogether" but most of his men refused. Finally he found two willing to do it and the prisoners were killed. Two days later, word of the massacre leaked out and it was feared that British or UN investigators would arrive, so some soldiers including Ben-Yehuda were detailed to untie the corpses and bury them.

According to the eyewitness testimony of Hussain 'Ali Harnid of the Arab village of 'Ein ez Zeitun (Source: Palestine Encyclopedia):

I and five other villagers went back to get the money that we had buried in our courtyards. Rashid Khalil, the first to enter the village, was shot dead by a Jewish soldier. We saw it was too dangerous to go in and decided to leave to Lebanon.

After the Palmach terrorists occupied the village on the night of May 1, 1948 they ordered the villagers to assemble at Mahmud Hamid's courtyard. Then the women were separated from the men and were taken to a courtyard behind the village mosque. According to the eyewitness testimony of Muhammad Ahmad Hamid. a mechanic:

I decided not to leave the village and hid in a nearby stable, close to my house. I remained in hiding for a while and then decided to join the people assembled at Mahmud Hamid's courtyard. As I was crossing the street, I was caught. The Jewish soldiers took me to the center of the village. There I saw Jamil Ahmad Idris crucified on a tree. I was beaten and questioned, then I was ordered to join the men in the courtyard.

In 'Ein ez Zeitun, Palestinians were killed as they tried to surrender. According to villager Mansur Shaibi:

We were terrified and decided to remain in our house with some of our relatives. We were afraid to surrender because Rashid Shaibi, who was hiding with us, had seen 'Abdullaj Shaibi killed as he was trying to surrender.

At the courtyard a horrible crime took place. According to the testimony of eyewitness Munira Harnid Shaibi, after being taken to the courtyard where the villagers had been gathered,

A Palmach officer ordered his soldiers to choose thirty seven teenage boys at random, ordering the rest of the villagers to move into the storage rooms of the mosque. Those boys were taken away and were never seen again. One was my brother. I do not think my brother is alive. I think the Jews killed him. Why would the Jews keep him for so long? What use is he to them?

Good question!

It is unreasonable to believe that not even one of thirty seven teenaged boys in 1948 would try to contact their families during the four decades since they were separated from them. The only reasonable assumption is that they cannot speak because they are buried in an unmarked mass grave.

After expelling those Palestinian Arabs they had not murdered, the Zionists wantonly burned and destroyed the houses of the inhabitants they had expelled.

Town Today:

According to the Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi, all that remains of the village:

The rubble of destroyed stone houses is scattered throughout the site, which is otherwise overgrown with olive trees and cactuses. A few deserted houses remain, some with round arched entrances and tall windows with various arched designs. In one of the remaining houses, the smooth stone above the entrance arch is inscribed with Arabic calligraphy, a fixture of Palestinian architecture. The well and the village spring also remain. (Source: Palestine Remembered)

* Palmach:

The Palmach is one of the armed terrorist wings Haganah, the unofficial army of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the British Mandate of Palestine. Significant leaders of the Palmach include Moshe Dayan, Yitzhak Sadeh, Yigal Allon and Yitzhak Rabin a future prime minister.

The Palmach contributed significantly to Israeli culture and ethos, well beyond its undoubtable military contribution. Its members formed the backbone of the Israel Defense Forces high command for many years, and were prominent in Israeli politics, literature and culture (source: Wikipedia).

No doubt about that. Look at Israel history, the terrorist barbaric culture is a major pillar of it's foundation. And they call OTHERS terrorists!!!

Contextually Related posts:

• Qibya Massacre: History of Terrorists
• The Massacre of Al-Aqsa Mosque – October 8, 1990
• Beit Hanoun Massacre Update