Category: Chapter3
2500 Martyrs: Victims of Israeli Mines
2500 Martyrs: Victims of Israeli Mines:
Israeli crimes and massacres were not only confined in that long series of crimes and massacres referred to throughout the previous pages, but has been expanded to the Israeli military mines deliberately planted by the occupation forces in the fields and orchards and the Palestinian territories, which resulted in the occurrence of bloody massacres, most of the victims being Palestinian children.
Al-Quds newspaper published the following report regarding Israeli massacres and mine victims which are considered real war crimes[i]:
“The coordinator of the Palestinian campaign to ban land mines accused the Israeli army of planting mines in more than one location in the West Bank and Gaza in order to kill and injure citizens, confirming the deaths and injuries of more than 2,500 Palestinian civilians since 1967, 34% of whom were children.
Ayed Abu Qutaish said that Israel is using mines and suspicious objects against Palestinian citizens, especially since the start of Al-Aqsa Intifada in spite of its claims to the contrary.
Children are the first victims
The coordinator of the Palestinian Campaign explained that most of the victims from the remnants of the Israeli army and their military trainings and confrontations are children.
He stressed that the death of the child Yahya Sheikh El Eid from Rafah, who was less than 12-years-old, as well as other hundreds of children died facing the internationally forbidden arsenal of Israeli forces and other allowed arsenal. Israel tries to justify in international forums the absence of its signature of the Ottawa agreement to ban mines by the fact that it is located in the middle of hostile states.
According to a study by the Global Movement for Children in Palestine before the Intifada:
– 21.5% of the mine explosions have led to fatalities,
– 19.8% of these accidents led to both fatalities and injuries,
– While 8.7% of them led to injuries”:
- 41% were injured in their bodies
- 5% were injured by shrapnel in their bodies
- 5% of the victims had a body part amputated
- 4% were victims of deformities and burnings
Abu Qutaish argued Israel’s insistence on pursuing this internationally prohibited policy of planting mines in dirt mounts that are tearing apart Palestinian governorates;in addition to planting mines at the entrance of one residential building on the pretext that Palestinian militants fire from them, and the injuring of the child Haniyeh Anumeila from the Bureij camp, who lost her legs and the children Jassim Abu Madin and Hani Shaheen.
The campaign coordinator said through the Israeli controller’s report for the year 1999:
– Putting minefields in areas under Israeli military control is a disgrace to Israeli democracy
– The detection discovered the presence of 37 minefields despite the fact that the Israelis admitted the existence of only 16 minefields within the mutual understanding map which the two sides acknowledged
– The absence of any security justification for keeping this minefield except, regarding the types of mines used by Israel, Abu Qutaish pointed to two types:
– A dangerous type known as “jumping mines” designed for murder,
upon touching, the mine jumps to the distance of a meter and explodes in the chest or the head. The impact of the blast depends on the amount of explosive material it contains.
– Shrapnel mines eject 200 to 300 shrapnels, twice as fast as the bullet as it reaches a distance of 150 to 200 meters.
As for the gravity caused by messing with mines and unexploded bodies, the result might be the amputation of a leg or both legs or an injury in the eyes or face, the consequent psychological and physical effects, and the need for painful and slow rehabilitative efforts.”
Abu Qutaish mentioned that Israeli forces had previously announced that they cleaned lands from mines located in a field in the village of Nabi Elias in the West Bank. After the entry of people to this field, believing that it was free from mines, a child died as the cleaning process was not in accordance with international standards.
Thus, we stand at the end of this semester in the face of the crimes of the occupation in the occupied Palestinian territories during the period,1967 to the Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000. A scene full of crimes and Zionist bloody massacres which lasted over the years of the occupation without any interruption, surpassing all conventions, international laws and red lines.
[i]. Al-Quds newspaper 22/7/2001.
1998, the year of the collective massacres
1998, the year of the collective massacres:
The International Solidarity Foundation for Human Rights said in a report that the year 1998 was a bloody year for the Palestinian people. They were exposed to many collective massacres in which a large number of unarmed Palestinian citizens were killed,
– The massacre of the Tarqumya workers occurred on March 10,1998in which, three workers were killed and nine others were wounded by Israeli soldiers,
– Five civilians were killed and 400 were shot by the Israeli army on May 14, 1998 during the clashes that followed the Million Man March to commemorate the “Nakba”
– The months of May and December were the bloodiest months of the year 1998, where 7 martyrs died in each of them.[i]
The Foundation pointed out that the year 1998 witnessed many events of violence and bloody confrontations,
– Most notably the one that accompanied the assassination and liquidation of four heads of the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas. Mohiuddin Al-Sharif was assassinated on March 29, and the two brothers Adel and Imad Awad Allah were assassinated on the 10th of September and Zahran Zahran was assassinated on the 29th of the same month.”
– The confrontations that followed the mass marches in solidarity with prisoners in Israeli jails and the American aggression on Iraq witnessed the highest number of martyrs, during which seven Palestinians were shot dead and a hundred were wounded by Israeli snipers.
– There was an increase in the number of Palestinian martyrs recorded during the month of December, and most of the injuries were located in the upper parts of their bodies. A number of other citizens were shot with fire bullets that are internationally prohibited,
Because the Israeli authorities had given new orders to its soldiers allowing them to use excessive forces and live ammunitions against protests in Palestinian territories
Israeli authorities also announced the re-formation of the Special Forces also known as “Samson unit”, which brings back to mind the events of the Palestinian Intifada and the groups of death which were responsible for liquidating and killing the activists of the Palestinian resistance at the time; a flagrant violation that threatens the safety and security of Palestinian citizens.
– There has been a 300% increase in the number of Palestinians killed in 1998 as compared to 1997 as a result of the abuse by settlers and Jewish extremists.
That is considered as a serious indication, that the Israeli authorities do not take necessary measures to curb the abuses of Jewish settlers and extremists. In fact three Palestinians died at the hands of settlers after being shot and stabbed to death.Two other Palestinians died as a result of severe beatings.
– Three Palestinians died in Israeli jails under different circumstances,
Nidal Abu Srour died of beatings and torture in the Russian Compound prison on 29 December.
Youssef Orai’er died from medical neglect in Ramleh prison’s hospital on June 21.
Ahmed Asfour died in Be’er Al Sabeh prison on 4 October. Another citizen was killed by a land mine explosion from the remnants of the Israeli army.
- Other Palestinian citizens were killed in ways that shows their death came as a result of a conflict with the Israeli occupation forces.
Both Qusay al-Tamimi and Houriya Abu Houshia died because they were late and were not allowed to pass through the checkpoints on their way to get medical treatment,
Salah Abu Hajaj and Leen Yana Abou Aram died as they were run over by a car of settlers.”
The International Solidarity Foundation for Human Rights blamed the Israeli authorities for the escalation witnessed in the region during the year 1998 which resulted in the death of dozens of people and the injury of hundreds
International Solidarity also warned of the continuing policy of formation and arming of the so-called settlers militias and the re-activation of the Special Forces.
4-9-1- B’Tselem data
The following data were accurately collected by the crews of “B’Tselem “:
– The number of deaths in the ongoing period starting with the date of the first intifada December 9, 1987 until August 31, 1998:
- In the Occupied Territories: The number of deaths among Palestinians reached 1439 people, while the number of Israeli deaths was of 158 only.
- In Palestine 1948 (Israel): the number of dead Israelis reached 231, while the number of dead Palestinians reached 55.
– The number of people killed since the Oslo agreement (September 13,1993 until August 31,1998):
- In the Occupied Territories: The number of Palestinian deaths reached 315, while the number of Israeli deaths reached 68. “[ii]
In addition to this large gap between the number of Israeli victims and Palestinian victims reached in the last decade, another data show of 400 deaths among Israelis and 1,500 deaths among Palestinians. Data that appeared in B’Tselem report listed below show:
– Around 480 Palestinians were deported from the area
– Around 18 thousand Palestinians were arrested and placed under administrative arrest.
- Tens of thousands of them were investigated
- Many were tortured
- A number of houses that were blown up:
- 500 houses were blown up for punishment.
- 80 houses were blown up while Israelis were looking for wanted
- 1800 were blown up under the pretext of not having a construction permit.
4-9-2- Children Victims …
- 277 children died in the last decade
- Most of them were shot dead by the army,
- 23 of them were shot dead by Jewish settlers,
- children among the 23 were slaughtered by Baruch Goldstein.[iii]
According to Helen Antonobiska a member of the Committee on Children’s Rights of the Organization of the Rights of Citizens regarding the 17 other cases: “Ten files were closed due to the lack of suspects, three files ended with light sentences, two files were closed by the acquittal of the accused on technical grounds and one open file disappeared.”[iv]
4-9-3- International Solidarity Foundation for Human Rights
The foundation gathered the number of Palestinian casualties as a result of the violence and crimes of the occupation in the following report[v]:
| Year | 87 | 88 | 89 | 90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 2000 | 2001 |
| 28 | 377 | 334 | 162 | 99 | 117 | 164 | 147 | 83 | 92 | 37 | 38 | 16 | 360 | 615 |
The foundation mentioned:
– The year 2001 is considered the bloodiest since the beginning of the first Palestinian Intifada in 1987, where about 615 Palestinians were killed at the hands of the occupation forces,
– The events of this year are characterized by a high proportion of martyrs and injured, as the number of injured reached about thirty thousand, most of the injuries were located in the upper areas of the body, which confirms that the shooter was shooting to kill and not to stop demonstrations.
– The use of the occupation forces of sophisticated types of weapons such as missiles and planes without any real reason threatening the lives of soldiers or putting them at risk indicates beyond any reasonable doubt the existence of an Israeli decision and the policy of a conspiracy to raise the proportion of deaths and injuries among Palestinian civilians.
– Israeli soldiers acted with great violence against the demonstrators during the year 2001 without any respect to the sanctity of the blood of children, who accounted for a very high percentage among the martyrs and the wounded. The numbers of martyrs who were under the age of eighteen was223 and accounted for 25% of the total number of martyrs.
[i]. Ibid.
[ii]. Hanegbi report, Maariv Hebrew newspaper 15.09.1998.
[iii]. Ibid.
[iv]. Haaretz Hebrew newspaper7/9/1998.
[v]. Al-Quds newspaper 1/1/2002.
Massacre in the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron
Massacre in the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron:
On the morning of Friday, the fifteenth day of the month of Ramadan 1414 AH, corresponding to 25/2/1994, during dawn prayers “The terrorist settler, Baruch Goldstein, who was wearing a military uniform and carrying his weapon infiltrated the region, disregarding all feelings and values he started shooting at worshipers who were prostrating in the heart of the Ibrahimi Mosque. Dozens of them fell.
The number of martyrs in this massacre reached twenty-nine martyrs inside the mosque, and thirty one outside and more than one hundred and fifty wounded. “[i]
This ugly, indescribable massacre constituted the height of the bloody terrorism committed by the state of terrorism and gangs of Jewish settlers in the Hebron area, which brings to mind the Dawayima massacre of 1948, where Jews killed the elderly and children of the village who had taken refuge in the mosque when the village was captured by Jewish gangs.
In the aftermath of the massacre, the occupation authorities imposed a curfew on the city while the Jews made certain arrangements inside the Haram transforming it into a synagogue, under the pretext of sorting it between Muslims and Jews. The introduced changes made this conversion durable and permanent.
4-6-1- The massacre as described by witnesses:
– The witnesses said:
The Israeli settler who committed the massacre in the Ibrahimi Mosque, carried out the operation under the eyes and ears of soldiers guarding the mosque who did not lift a finger to prevent the killer who used several ammunition storages.[ii]
- Mohammed Suleiman Abu Saleh, a mosque guard of 33 years old, who was on shift during the massacre said:
At least 800 people were inside Al-Ibrahimi mosque the moment of the accident and the armed man was trying to kill as many as possible. Bodies were strewn on the floor of the mosque and the floor of the mosque was full of blood, some of the people tried to escape but fell on the ground.”
– Abu Saleh said to Reuters
“I shouted loudly for the soldiers to come and stop him but they ran away. He charged his gun at least once and killed at least seven people, their brains scattered on the ground. He continued shooting for ten minutes and the army did not intervene before the massacre was over.”
– A United Nations staff member from the Palestinian Relief Agency was inside the mosque He told reporters hours after the accident
“Stairs are covered with blood and body parts.”
Life stopped in the occupied territories, in which some two million Palestinians live, and shops closed while the population was burying the martyrs of the massacre.
In the Al-Ahli Hospital in Hebron, the situation was a witness to the heinous crime. The martyrs and the wounded Palestinians in the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre were there, and there were, as well, the victims of the Israeli soldiers stationed near the medical foundation.
The chaos was general and comprehensive.Hundreds of Palestinians from Hebron were questioning about the fate of relatives with fear as the news of the massacre was spreading.
Others came to deliver water and medicine. Small trucks were used to transport medicines and bandages collected by the pharmacists of the city as well as any available oxygen bottles and mineral water; while the ambulances turned on their sirens, trying to make their way to the hospital.
Palestinians, who were angry, threw stones at Israeli soldiers who were on the edge of the adjacent road to the hospital and shouted slogans of fire and redemption “with blood and soul we will redeem you, oh martyr.”
[i]. Palestinian newspapers 26/2/1994.
[ii]. Details as stated in the Palestinian press on 26-27-28-29-30/2/1994.
Wholesale massacres during the first intifada 1987-1993
Wholesale massacres during the first intifada 1987-1993:
According to documented data, the Israeli occupation has committed crimes against Palestinian children, women, elders and youths over the years of the first intifada from 1987-1993. War crimes were happening daily, they were collective and individual and caused damage and harm to all the families and Palestinian homes, and caused destruction in properties, lands and crops.
“The number of Palestinian victims shot by Israeli soldiers during the first intifada reached about two thousand martyrs, 120 thousand injured and more than 120 thousand prisoners in addition to material losses estimated at billions of dollars.”[i]
According to a Palestinian reports:
” 455 martyrs and nearly 76,455 injured people are from the Gaza Strip,” while another report pointed out that “the practices of the occupation in the Gaza Strip during the period from 1967 to 1987, have resulted in the death of 612 Palestinians and the injury of 75 thousand Palestinians, while causing the displacement of about 150 thousand Palestinians. “[ii]
A report issued by the Gaza Center for Rights and Law pointed out that “about 70 thousand Palestinians were victims of the Israeli rubber bullets, as follows:
– 22 256 Palestinians were shot in 1988.
– 17 230 Palestinians were shot during 1989 and 1990.
– 9709 Palestinians were shot during 1991.
– 5 806 Palestinians were shot during 1992.
– 4 649 Palestinians were shot during 1993.
– While 1369 Palestinians were shot in 1994, and 2188 were shot during 1995 and 1996”.[iii]
4-4-1- Detention camps during the first intifada
– From the very beginning of the Israeli occupation, the State pursued the policy of arrests and wholesale intensive and extensive prosecutions which it also applied during the first years of the first Intifada 1987-1993. According to Israeli and Palestinian sources, mass arrests reached between 750-850 thousand Palestinians over the years 1967-1997. And according to the International Red Cross statistics, as reported by the Palestinian Prisoners Club released in June 1997, about a third of the Palestinian people were arrested”
– Moshe Dayan, the minister of war at the time declared, commenting on pursuing this policy:
“Israeli prisons will release disabled, elderly inmates who will be burden on the Palestinian people”,
– And this is what made Yitzhak Rabin Minister of suppressing the uprising in the government of Yitzhak Shamir, declare before the heads of Jewish Organizations Conference and emphasize very clearly
that “The Intifada is a confrontation between the two entities, and the evidence for that is the very large number of Palestinian prisoners,” adding that “the solution to such a conflict would only be by a joint military policy,”and pointing to the mass arrests of Palestinians in camps, the most prominent one being the camp Ketziot in the Negev desert, about which he said: “As long as there is an uprising, Ketziot will stay.”
– Many different Israeli sources have revealed the dimensions of this issue, saying:
“Without exaggeration we can say that the important categories among the efficient categories of the Palestinian uprising, or at least the majority of them, have passed through the “Ansar – 3″camp in the Neqab, which turned into a Palestinian national smelting oven that promotes the Intifada.”
The policy of arrests, collective trials and detention camps was from the very beginning of the occupation an open, repressive, terrorist front,
The purpose behind this (policy) is to repress and kill morally and physically and burry Palestinian militants alive and kill the Palestinian Arab people’s morale and paralyze their mobility by arresting their leaders, activists and militants as widely as possible. The arrest policy reached its peak during the first intifada, and is still continuing at the moment of writing the lines of this book after more than five years of the second intifada, Al-Aqsa and independence intifada in 2000. According to different indicators it is not expected to stop as long as the occupation stays.
“As long as there is occupation and killing… there will be an intifada and resistance… and Ktziot will stay” as Rabin said.
Therefore, the Occupying Power was keen to open and expand detention camps and prisons over the years of occupation.
[i]. Al-Quds, Al-Fajr, Al-shaab Palestinian newspapers dated 1-2-3/1/1993.
[ii]. Ra’y Jordanian newspaper 15/6/1992.
[iii]. Al-Sabil Jordanian newspaper as stated by the Gaza center for rights and law 21/11/2000.
Black Monday massacre in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa
Black Monday massacre in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa:
The official Israeli authorities proceeded on Monday the eighth of October 1990, to commit the hideous massacre / crime against Palestinian men, women and children and the elderly in the courtyard of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
- The police, border guards, Israeli intelligence and Jewish settlers on their side, stormed the courtyards of the Haram Al-Sharif from different doors on Monday morning and surprised the Palestinian crowds which had gathered,
First: to pray,
Second: to try to address the gang of the “Temple Mount and Eretz Yisrael Faithful Movement[i],” led by “Gershon Salomon” to put the cornerstone for the alleged Third Jewish Temple in Al-Aqsa Square.
According to empirical evidence, concrete data and reliable certification, it was proven that the massacre was premeditated and planned by the Israeli authorities, who prepared all the necessary tools and preparations. As had always been the case, massacres against Palestinians are carried out at different times and stages.[ii]
It could be argued that the Israeli terrorist nature reached a new peak and manifested itself again in this carnage in the heart of Islam’s holiest shrine, and as manifested only two weeks earlier (but less bloodily) in the destructive / bloody overall campaign waged against the Bureij camp in the Gaza Strip, under the pretext of the killing of an Israeli reservist soldier. It manifested itself as well in the destructive / terrorist massacres committed by those authorities and forces against the Palestinian Arab people at different stages of the uprising, and in the stages before the outbreak of the intifada.
- Israeli forces started the massacre using all available weapons in their possession: bombs, poisonous gas, automatic weapons, and military helicopters. Soldiers, intelligence officers and settlers fired live ammunitions from machine guns, continuously and from all directions, in a coordinated and well-planned manner, leading to cram thousands of Palestiniansof all ages and both sexes, who were praying, into the trap of death and mass slaughter.
- Thus resulting in the fall of 23 Palestinians, and 850 others wounded, according to Palestinian sources based on Arab hospital statistics in occupied Jerusalem.”[iii]
4-3-1- Israeli reactions
The reactions of various Israeli parties, governmental, parliamentary, political groups and military levels was unanimous.
The all unanimously expressed “regret for the killing and wounding of a large number of Arabs and denunciate the Arab assault carried out by the Arab worshipers on Jewish worshipers in the courtyard of the Wailing Wall, which obliged the Israeli security forces to re-impose order and calm in the region[iv],
Moreover, we can sum up other statements composed of comments, reactions and analysis of the reasons the massacre was committed by the occupation authorities against Arab citizens in the courtyard of Al Haram Al Sharif, as follows:
– The correspondent of Al HaMishmar Israeli newspaper for Arab Affairs Pinhas Inbari said:
– “There is a direct link between the bloody events that took place in Al-Aqsa Square, and the Gulf crisis and the earlier we understand this fact, the more we avoid causing further unrest that may be more severe than those that have occurred.
– The extreme right in Israel is facing hardship, their attempt to put the cornerstone of the Third Temple reflects their frustration, we have the most right-winged government in Israel’s history: which is now leading to the campaign of a Greater Israel, crushing the uprising, deportation, and the establishment of the Third Jewish Temple, but this attempt is nonsense and involves damage.
– The Kuwait crisis also led to increased tension at the Haram Mosque, the process of provocation carried out by Gershon Salomon the leader of the Temple Mount and Eretz Yisrael Faithful Movement was enough to ignite Jerusalem even without increased tension in the mosques. “[v]
This confession of Inbari among few Israeli confessions, pointed to the intentions of the official Israeli authorities:
- Our people in Jerusalem and the occupied territories are facing together an Israeli right-winged government…
- They are facing together a campaign to achieve the Zionist dream and their big project in “Greater Israel”,
- They are facing bloody campaigns to crush the Palestinian uprising and to establish the Third Jewish Temple.
It is a comprehensive occupying war against the Palestinian people’s uprising in the occupied territories.
- The Israeli newspaper Maariv commented on the massacre, claiming:
“Same as happened in June 1967, there was a consensus in hatred, hatred of Arabs to the Jews”[vi]
- Haaretz newspaper mentioned in its main comment:
“Jerusalem has known violent incidents and bloodshed throughout the last twenty three years, but we have not seen such incidents before.
The explosion happened in the courtyard of Al Haram during the peak of the wave of events of renewable uprisings in the Jerusalem area, which is rather reminiscent of the first days of the uprising. Since several weeks, Jerusalem area faces daily about 40 incidents, and the injury of two Israelis, in addition to the burning of two Israeli vehicles and throwing Molotov cocktails, as well as demonstrations in which hundreds and not tens of citizens participate, as was the case at the beginning of the intifada. “[vii]
The newspaper Haaretz talked about the causes of the massacre, claiming: “The reasons for the escalation of the uprising in Jerusalem, could shed light on the latest events, in Jerusalem and in the West Bank, an agreement was reached recently between the Palestinian Liberation Organization and Hamas.
Against this background, the uprising saw a huge boost in Jerusalem, there is nothing other than Al Haram Al Qudsi which could bridge the rift in the Arab world, there is no other thing that can unify Arab ranks… the religious motive returned again to occupy the heart of the conflict.”
The newspaper Al HaMishmar commented about the religious factor and its role in the massacre: “There is no doubt that the religious factor stemming from the place of the incident will foster serious events expected by the Israeli security services in the coming weeks.”[viii]
In addition to the press comments, most Israeli official’s comments blame Arab citizens for the massacre:
- Chaim Herzog the president of the State of Israel said that: “These events demonstrate once again the sensitivity of the situation in this holy place, where the Government of Israel succeeded in achieving the desired balance and freedom of worship for many years. The established balance was disturbed yesterday by Islamic entities, there was a criminal attempt to touch the freedom of worship of the Jewish public, and we regret the loss of the life of many people as a result of this public incitement against Jewish worshipers…”[ix]
- Teddy Kollek the mayor of Jerusalem blamed Arab citizens and Shamir equally for the massacre, he said: “Sorry for the dead and wounded, there is a need to keep adjusting the nerves and balance in this city, The attack on a holy place for Jews is not bearable, same as the attack on the holy places for Christians and Muslims “.
Kollek also pointed out that “the words of Yitzhakn Shamir on the establishment of a new Jewish neighborhood on the Mount of Zeitoun, sparked a fear of expulsion among the Arabs and led to turbulence.”
- Isaac Peres the Minister of Immigrant Absorption and the leader of the Shas party, said at the time: ” Israel should deport those responsible for serious events from the square of Jabal Al Bayt to the outside and that the process of the brutal attack on Jewish worshipers at Alkawtal Square – the Wailing Wall – requires the Government of Israel to debate the Islamic Waqf in the Haram again.”[x]
- Rafael Eitan the Minister of agriculture and leader of the movement “Tzomet” and the owner of the “Arabs narcotic cockroaches” theory, requested “the Israeli government to call for a change in the arrangements of the Haram established since 1967, which are overseen by the Islamic Wakf.”[xi]
- Avner Shaki Minister of Religions in Israel at the time said: “the prime minister told me to ask on his behalf, the people of Israel, to come in groups to pray in Alkawtal. Square in the old town, and not to allow any foreign party to disturb their joy and to find a way to prevent the phenomenon of stones towards Jewish worshipers.”[xii]
– In a nutshell, most of the official Israeli parliamentary parties and political groups attitudes , consider Palestinian worshipers in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Mosque responsible for the massacre, arguing that they “orchestrated the events” and they “attacked” the Jewish worshipers in the yard of the “Wailing Wall”, ignoring the series of provocations and continuous attacks carried out by members of Jewish terrorist organizations, from the Jewish settlement in Jerusalem, under the nose and cover of the police and border guards.
- As most Israelis demanded the Israeli government to take over the keys of the Haram, which directly happened in the aftermath of the massacre , and work on seizing it through the rebuilding of the so-called Third Temple.
– Those Israelis also demanded the deportation of large numbers of Palestinian citizens under the pretext of security and other pretexts.
This is the reality of Israeli politics and attitudes regarding Israeli practices against the Palestinian Arabs and their holy Islamic and Christian places, as it is the reality of the conflict of the occupying authorities.
- Report of the Zamir Committee
Complementing the official Israeli policy towards the massacre in Al-Haram Al-Sharif, this theatrical play was an attempt to justify that policy and provide legal cover in front of the local and international public opinion,
Yitzhak Shamir, the Israeli prime minister, formed a fact-finding committee on October 10, 1990 which he called the ” Zamir Committee” after its chairman Zvi Zamir, head of the Israeli Mossad earlier. Committee membership included agents of the ministries of Justice and the Interior..
The Israeli “investigation committee” mastered its entrusted role and drafted the legal cover required for the Israeli official position declared by the various Israeli forums, which condemned as mentioned above Arab worshipers at Al Aqsa Mosque, and justified the hysterical firing of ammunitions in order to reap the Arab citizens and kill them all.
Here, we do not intend to stand in the path and details of the theatrical investigation and its expected outcome before it comes out from the Committee”[xiii],
The key points contained in the report as presented in the Israeli press:
* “Zamir Committee identified in its conclusions, that thousands of Palestinian worshipers who came to the Temple, did not come to pray and they formed the main factor for the bloody events.
* The uncontrolled use of live ammunitions by the police forces, was fully justified by police men, whose lives were at risk.
* The Israeli government is responsible for public order and its guarantee in Jabal Al Bayt.
* The committee was not asked to make personal conclusions in the field of civil and criminal disciplinary responsibility, and does not have any right to make these conclusions. “[xiv]
Those were the main points of the report of the Zamir Committee, where the Committee held responsible for the massacre Palestinian worshipers who only defended themselves by throwing stones against the assault launched against them by the occupation forces,, using all kinds of weapons, bombs and helicopters .. all those forces .. and all those weapons were used against unarmed Palestinian men, women, children and elderly.. Despite all this, the Zamir Committee found a way to hold them responsible as expected.
The Committee also recommended that the Israeli government take over the responsibility for overseeing and managing the Islamic holy places instead of the Islamic Awqaf. The Israeli authorities have taken steps in this direction – that would be mentioned in a later stage.
It is useful while analyzing the role of the “Zamir Committee” and its aims to note the following facts:
– This Committee, is a pure Israeli committee,
This committee is headed by Zvi Zamir, former head of the Israeli Mossad, who is an ancient leader in the bloody terrorism against Palestinians and Arabs.
- The Committee was formed urgently to be essentially a cover to disguise the massacre and to create some sort of camouflage for it,
The use of live ammunitions against crowds of unarmed Palestinians was justified and the Committee played the role of the “judge and jury” at the same time. It is a monovision committee; it is not objective and is not expected to be this way.
– The method of forming a Committee is well-known and already proven,
Israeli authorities got used to forming such theatrical committees in the wake of bloody hideous massacres and mass murders carried out by the occupying forces over the previous timeframe. We coexisted with those plays carried out by investigative Israeli committees, which were formed, for example, in the aftermath of the genocides of Qibya, Kafr Kassem and Sabra and Shatila, in addition to committees and investigative files, which investigated hundreds of violations and killings committed by Israelis against the Palestinians in light of the Intifada.
– This is the Israeli thinking mechanism,
This is the real Israeli mentality behind the various Israeli practices against Palestinians and their rights in the occupied territory.
- Facts not mentioned by Zamir Committee
As soon as the report of the Zamir Committee was launched “The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the occupied territories”, known as “B’Tselem” hurried to issue the results of its own investigations on the reasons and objectives of the massacre. The Center addressed facts that were not mentioned, and ignored by the Zamir Committee due to previous planning and determination. The most important facts being:
– The Committee accessed the truth by gathering testimonies of witnesses from only one side, a fact that should be dealt with skepticism.
– B’Tselem refuted the statements of the police witnesses, before the committee, claiming that they did not see the Arab ambulances when they shot at them in the courtyard of the holy Al-Aqsa, and confirmed the testimony of the Arab nurse Fatima Abu Khudair who said she saw soldiers directing their guns towards the ambulances.
– The Committee did not seriously address in its report, the issue of firing live ammunitions towards Arab citizens and only talked about this issue in 200 words, while the report contains 60 pages.
– Israeli security forces shot towards Arab citizens, and not in a state of face to face confrontation.
– Unlike investigation committees which hold a specific legal status, the type of committees such as Zamir, has always been a toy in the hands of the political leadership, which is interested to come out clean of such the events.”[xv]
those are some of the facts deliberately and intentionally omitted by Zamir, as confirmed by the Israeli press, and, that is the conclusion confirmed by Davar newspaper on the same subject;that the Zamir Committee is a mock committee, a tool in the hands of the Israeli government, and which was formed promptly by Yitzhak Shamir in the light of the reactions of Arab and international pressures that accelerated in the wake of the Monday Massacre in the courtyard of the holy Aqsa.
4-3-2- Second: The international position on the massacre
In light of the barbaric genocide committed by the Israeli forces in the courtyard of the Holy Aqsa, and in the light of the exposure of the depth of involvement of the official authorities through its various units in the massacre. The United States and the allies of “Israel” in the UN Security Council could not cover up this Israeli crime or defend the position of “Israel” shamelessly and arrogantly as in the series of previous positions.
The massacre moved into the corridors of the Security Council very quickly, due to the efforts of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the initiatives of the Arab States. The administration of the United States could not support this Israeli crime, in light of the escalation of the Gulf crisis, and fierce hostilities against Iraq and the Arab nations. After the United States of America was able to recruit “international legitimacy” that was represented by the successive resolutions adopted by the Security Council against Iraq, and the alleged “Arab legitimacy”, and its diversion for the benefit of its aggressive policy, and its fierce crusade against Iraq and the Arab nations, the US administration has been unable to breach this balance. Therefore, under the pretext of adhering to international law, and satisfying Arab allies who rushed to line up in the American trench, and try to keep this ring and the international alliance against Iraq, the US position came as a maneuver and tactic supporting the Security Council resolution No.(672),that included a condemnation of Israel, and sending a committee to investigate the facts about the massacre that took place in the Haram.”[xvi]
This was the first time that the Security Council adopted a flexible resolution against “Israel” after the painful process which lasted much longer than what it should because of US objections and amendments.
a – Security Council Resolution No. (672)
After the blatant Israeli rejection of the mentioned resolution, a group of Arab countries and third world countries took the initiative to request from the Security Council to impose sanctions against “Israel” because of its rejection of the decision and the lack of commitment to “international legitimacy”
However, the United States intervened again with a number of allied nations and perfected its role from behind the scenes and was able to ease the wording of the initiative again, to reach the final version of the resolution as follows: – “… The Security Council expresses its alarm towards the Israeli government’s refusal to Council resolution number 672 (1990), and its refusal to accept the Secretary-General’s delegation…The Security Council condemns the Israeli government’s refusal to receive the Secretary-General’s delegation. The Security Council urges the Israeli government to reconsider its decision to fully comply with resolution 672 and to allow for the delegation of the Secretary-General to proceed according to the purpose requested, for the Secretary-General to be able to submit to the Council the report requested in resolution 672 .. and to confirm its intention to consider the full report promptly. [xvii]
The Israeli government also rejected the new resolution number (673) categorically, stressing that it will not receive any delegation from the United Nations,
Despite the attempts of the US administration to convince the Israeli government to receive a special envoy to the Secretary General of the United Nations for a fact-finding mission in the territories, the Israeli government kept on refusing the international delegation, formed by the special envoy to the Secretary-General which represents an international party, and demanded the Security Council to consider instead the report of the Zamir Committee formed by Shamir as enough.
In fact, after the report of the Zamir Committee came out, the Israeli government sent copies of it to the US administration and to members of the Security Council and Secretary-General of the United Nations,
The US administration examined the report and found many positive points in it. It also earned the praise and compliments and sufficiency of the United States administration.
However, the Secretary-General of the United Nations announced that it cannot consider the report of the Zamir Committee as enough and that “Israel” should abide by the application of international resolutions.
b- The initiative of the Secretary-General to protect the Palestinians :
Following the position of the Secretary-General of the United Nations regarding this matter, a new initiative was announced in early November 1990 “calling the countries of the United Nations to study ways to protect the Palestinian population in the occupied territories.”[xviii]
As in previous attitudes towards the Security Council resolutions, the Israeli government rejected a third time the initiative of the Secretary General of the United Nations,
As it was considered by many official Israeli platforms as worrisome and the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its disappointment towards this initiative in a document that was delivered to foreign embassies and the Embassy of the United Nations in Israel.
According to Israel’s rejection document:
- Israel announces its disappointment of the one-sided attitude in the report; the recommendations included in it are only directed against Israel and did not invite concerned Palestinians to stop the violence.
- Above all, the unprecedented call for a meeting of signatories to the Geneva Convention is a dangerous policy and constitutes a dangerous intervention in the objectivity of a human important device.
- Israel is responsible under international law, to manage the regions and to impose law and order…
- Israel will not accept foreign parties to exploit the unfortunate incident based on provocation in order to mess with the Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem[xix]…
This is how Israel officially refused the resolutions of the Security Council and the initiatives of the Secretary-General. Israel continued its refusal policy every time on issues and decisions related to the rights of the Palestinians.
4-3-3- The Palestinian and Arab reactions
The hideous Palestinian massacre against Palestinians in the heart of the holy Haram shook up the Palestinian/Arab unity, inside the occupied territory, and beyond.
Overseas, PLO leaders, Jordan and Arab allies led the intensive diplomatic campaign in the corridors of the United Nations, which resulted in:
– Security Council resolutions number 672 and 673 that condemn Israel and request its international compliance,
– The initiative of the Secretary General calling to look for ways to protect Palestinians in occupied territories.
The two resolutions along with the initiative, achieved a diplomatic/political achievement for the organization and the Arab countries which stood by it and took the initiative in this issue.
In addition to this diplomatic/political role, the organization and Arab countries contributed to:
– Provide concentrated media coverage with broad details and dimensions of the complications of the Israeli massacre on the one hand,
– Expose the ugly face of Israel,
This resulted in the partial isolation of the Israeli entity on the level of the League Nations, despite intensive attempts by the US administration to alleviate the severity of the isolation and the level of ugliness of the Israeli face.
In addition to that, on 7/11/1990 the PLO took the initiative to invite the United Nations to convene an urgent meeting to discuss:
– The subject of protection of Palestinians in the occupied territory on the one hand,
– The question of imposing sanctions on “Israel” for refusing to implement Security Council resolutions on the other hand.
a – Testimonies and applications:
– The official Israeli narrative for Al-Aqsa massacre included three key items:
- The events of the Haram were planned and incited by the PLO leadership and were implemented by support from the inside.
- The incident occurred primarily as a result of Arab extremists attacking Jewish worshipers…
- Any Israeli mistake is due to the insufficient preparedness to face this Islamic conspiracy…[xx]
– The Zamir Committee highlighted the process to collect Palestinian worshipers who were killed in Al-Aqsa courtyard, were all unanimously gathered by the occupation forces which fired heavy machine-guns in order to reap the Arab worshipers and kill them,
“The massacre constituted a police assault against a group of Palestinian women near the Dome of the Rock”… etc.
- Saleh Abdel Jawad of Jerusalem confirmed during a lecture he gave on the evening of 05/11/1990 in the Scientific and CulturalCentre in the Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation, the following about the massacre:
“The massacre was planned in advance… There are several evidences of this, including: that the Israeli authorities prevented tourists from entering the Haram from eight o’clock in the morning … and then set up barriers to prevent the entry of citizens to the Haram .. Then shut the doors of the Haram… at 10:45 a.m. five tear gas bombs were set off near a group of Palestinian women without any provoked action from the Palestinian side or any Arab action. A number of young men ran to protect the women and the forces of the Haram entered from the Lions Gate and started shooting bullets heavily”[xxi], then he confirmed that “most of the injuries were in the head and the heart”.
- The Israeli magazine “Haolam Hazeh” published in a broad report the details of the massacre including the statement of a nurse called Fatima Abu Khudair who was hit by a bullet that shattered her wrist:
“…We entered Al-Aqsa courtyard in an ambulance, I saw a large number of victims on the ground… and then I saw a lot of soldiers, hundreds of soldiers, 30 meters away from the ambulance, sitting on their knees, as well as snipers, their weapons were directed to the inside of the ambulance, and after that I could not see anything.”[xxii]
– Doctor Mohammad Abu Aila, who was also shot by soldiers while he was doing his humanitarian duty said,
“I came out of the ambulance carrying a first aid bag, and I was wearing the white robe, the soldiers saw me and knew I was a doctor, when I reached one of the injured close to the ambulance, I leaned to treat him and was shot with three bullets on my back in the kidney area, at this same moment one of the injured died and I could have saved him hadn’t I got shot…”
– One of the caretakers of the Haram said,
“… In the courtyard of Al-Aqsa, a number of young men sang religious songs and repeated religious slogans, and suddenly the place was filled with poisonous gas bombs.”
- A citizen Hisham Al-Netsheh, who was shot in the neck, said:
“They fired on all worshipers who were praying and from all directions,”[xxiii]
– The nurse Mahmoud Al Masri affirmed what Al-Netsheh said:
“They fired without any prior provocation, the soldiers criticized the issue of throwing stones.”
– We summarize here the entire testimonies and comments of Palestinians through the statements of Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, the Imam of Al-Aqsa, delivered in a lecture at the Al-Jozoor Club in Umm al-Fahm:
“Since the Crusaders campaign, Al-Aqsa did not experience such a massacre., it is a black stain on the forehead of Zionism which we must emphasize day and night in order to reveal the truth about Israel’s rulers who are directly responsible for the massacre …
Muslim worshipers did not throw stones on worshipers located on the courtyard of the Western Wall as the police cleared the place of Jewish worshipers before that even happened. the picture broadcasted by Israeli television is an archival image. “[xxiv]
Those are the Palestinian facts about the massacre full of blood of women, children and elderly Palestinians, who bled a lot, as evidenced by the details contained in the reports about the massacre.
b- Report of the Supreme Islamic Council:
The commission responsible for finding and gathering the facts emanating from the Supreme Islamic Council in Jerusalem, declared later in the same month the results of the investigation it conducted on the massacre. It dropped all the allegations of the Israeli Zamir Committee, and reinforced, on the other hand, the testimonies and statements of Arab eyewitnesses about the pre-planning of the massacre.
- “The tragic events of Martyrs’ Day, on Monday, 08/10/1990 were not spontaneous incidents, but planned actions by the leadership of the border guards and the police.
- Indiscriminate and heavy shooting which was brutal and barbaric with the purpose to kill, without any justification or distinction of women, children, elderly, trees or stones. Sniping was used as well, and snipers targeted the head and chest.
- The number of deaths reached eighteen, and hundreds of Palestinians were wounded and detained.
- Muslims threw stones at the soldiers to defend themselves after they were shot at with live bullets and gas bombs. “[xxv]
– The Palestinians of the occupied territories, were frustrated, cynical and indifferent to the results of the Zamir Committee which investigated the massacre of Al-Aqsa Stressing:
“If the judge is your enemy to whom will you complain?”[xxvi]
– Adnan Husseini, director of the Jerusalem Awqaf said:
“To blame the responsibility on Palestinians was expected. We’ve realized since the first day of the formation of the Zamir Committee… that it is an amputated report that did not take into account the provocations directed at the Muslim presence in Al-Aqsa.”[xxvii]
– Anwar al-Khatib, one of the heads of the Supreme Islamic Council confirmed:
” The results of the Zamir Committee report is not a surprise. It is clear that the real responsible person for every incident is Shamir and his policy,”[xxviii]
– Khaled al-Ashab, a resident from the Old City of Jerusalem said:
” The Zamir Committee results are the same as the results of previous committees on massacres – Kafr Kassem, Qibya, Sabra and Shatila – and subsequent massacres. “[xxix]
– Many Palestinians had the same opinion as Khaleds’ and sarcastically commented on the results of the Zamir Committee, saying:
“The results were objective, because the police did not shoot in the air this time, it seems Palestinians have ceased to walk in the air …”[xxx]
[i]. The Temple Mount and Eretz Yisrael (Land of Israel) Faithful Movement is an Orthodox Jewish movement, based in Jerusalem, Israel whose goal is to rebuild the Third Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and re-institute the practice of ritual sacrifice.
[ii]. Regarding this issue, see the full text of the report of the fact-finding committee emanating from the Supreme Islamic Council in Jerusalem.
[iii]. Report of the Committee for Israeli repression and the events of the intifada, Palestinian Information Office / Amman 30/10/1990.
[iv]. About the official Israeli position, see Hebrew newspapers on 9-10/ 10/1990.
[v]. Al-Hamichmar Hebrew Newspaper, 09/10/1990.
[vi]. Maariv Hebrew newspaper 9/10/1990.
[vii]. Haaretz Hebrew newspaper 9/10/1990.
[viii]. Al-Hamichmar Hebrew newspaper 9/10/1990.
[ix]. Dafar Hebrew newspaper 9/10/1990.
[x]. Yediot aharonot newspaper 9/10/1990.
[xi]. Maariv Hebrew newspaper 9/10/1990.
[xii]. Dafar Hebrew newspaper 9/10/1990.
[xiii]. See the full text of the report of Zamir’s Committee in the Hebrew newspapers dated 29/10/1990.
[xiv]. Al-Hamichmar Hebrew Newspaper, 28/10/1990.
[xv]. Arab newspapers dated 29/10/1990.
[xvi]. Security Council resolution Number 672.
[xvii]. Jordanian constitution newspaper 25/11/1990.
[xviii]. Ra’y Jordanian newspaper 7/11/1990.
[xix]. Dafar Hebrew newspaper 5/11/1990, see the full Israeli document.
[xx]. Investigation about Al-Aqsa massacre, seventh day magazine, 22/10/1990.
[xxi]. Dr. Salah Abdul Jawad, Jerusalem, Conference entitle: Details about Al-Aqsa massacre, Scientific Cultural Center, Shoman Foundation, 5/11/1990, Amman.
[xxii]. Haolam Hazeh Hebrew newspaper, 17/10/1990.
[xxiii]. Haotam Hebrew newspaper 19/10/1990.
[xxiv]. Al-Hamichmar Hebrew Newspaper 23/10/1990.
[xxv]. The full text of the fact-finding, Al Ra’y Jordanian newspaper 03.11.1990.
[xxvi]. Fajr Palestinian Newspaper 29/10/1990.
[xxvii]. Jordanian constitution newspaper 29/10/1990.
[xxviii]. Yediot Ahronot Hebrew newspaper, 28/10/1990.
[xxix]. Jordanian constitution newspaper 29/10/1990.
[xxx]. Ibid.
Sabra and Shatila massacre
Sabra and Shatila massacre:
The commemoration of the Sabra and Shatila massacre creates a flood of tremendous feelings of pain, sorrow, oppression and anger… While time has passed, we have at the same time a large number of questions and wonderings concerning the developments and events of this massacre on the parties involved and on the perpetrators. As well as other questions related to the memory of the historic conflict and the series of Zionist massacres against the Palestinians and Arabs, and, related to this, are the historical accounts for the series of Zionist massacres .. When and how will the leaders of Zionist terrorism pay the price for their accumulated crimes…?! among which was the horrific massacre in Sabra and Shatila. When we remember the day of the massacre while following forcibly the sterile negotiations about the political settlement, we can’t help but wonder: If the negotiations will bring back the lands and rights usurped, will the price for the series of criminal Zionist actions, that are still ongoing on Palestinian land be paid…?!
4-2-1- The details of the massacre[i]
We stop here to remember the massacre and to reminisce the details knowing that we are firmly in the face of a racist and terrorist state that will not break away from its nature.
– The invasion of West Beirut
At five o’clock in the morning of Wednesday, 15/9/1982, the Israeli operations began to invade West Beirut after the mines and barricades were lifted from the crossing points and streets, while the Lebanese National Movement forces were demilitarized or dispersed.
The invasion began with one thousand soldiers, who were flown in on aircrafts to Beirut airport in a hurry. Before the lapse of twenty-four hours, in the morning of Thursday, the collar of the attackers had completely tightened around the area.
– Entering towards the camps
Israeli forces entered the Lebanese capital on the evening of Tuesday, 14/09/1982, towards three camps for Palestinian refugees in west Beirut.
These forces did not meet with any counter forces on their way to the camps. The event happened after the broadcast news of the blow up of the building occupied by the leadership of the Kataeb Party located in Ashrafieh, where Bashir El Gemayel, was presiding over a meeting of the leaders of the Lebanese Forces. Before making sure Bashir El Gemayel was among the victims, Sharon consulted with his Prime Minister Menachem Begin and they took the decision to enter Fakhani and Sabra and Shatila, to which the leading roads were closed.
– The killings began at 12 noon on Thursday, 16/09/1982 and at five o’clock, after the governmental decision of the Israeli Cabinet meeting was announced.
During the genocides many types of artillery were used such as manual and cluster bombs, knives, daggers, hatchets, ropes and there are indications that a number of killers (if not all) were not in their normal conditions Thursday evening. They were either drunk or drugged the use of exciting drugs was also noted, as remnants were found at the crime scene. There is no doubt that the ugliness of the mutilation of living children, women and men before killing them, indicates that the killers were of a very peculiar kind.
Acts of killings took place amid tight Israeli military collar on the region and a hushed media.
The killing was intense and at its peak, and Israeli tanks and bulldozers demolished and crumpled the victims in the pits, which turned into mass graves.
The outcome of the massacre caused the death of five thousand martyrs.The the victims of Sabra and Shatila paid with their lives uncovering the truth of Zionism and it’s real face for the world to see.. However, a magical mask quickly came back and covered the true face of Zionism and easily removed it from the memory of the global opinion showing the face that serves the interests of its owner and its objectives in the time and place deemed appropriate.
4-2-2- An issue and a tragedy
Their issue and their tragedy is greater than all the calamities of the world… amassed in the absence from the eyes of the Arab and international conscience, pieces of bodies, cut into pieces and buried in a mass grave in silence, no one even knew their names… Those are the victims of the Sabra and Shatila massacre, committed by the Israelis in cold blood in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
The tragedy gets bigger accompanied by a strange feeling of sorrow and grief. The martyrs were killed unfairly, without committing any fault to be blamed for; but because they were owners of an issue, be they Palestinian or Lebanese or Arabs who were assembled by the ordeal during the Nakbah day.
The scene of the Sabra and Shatila cemetery in the southern suburbs of Beirut implies to the viewer that there was a deliberate plot, to erase from the memory of the Arab nation the image of the terrible massacre of the age, committed by the Israeli occupation soldiers and their agents on the afternoon of September 16, 1982. It is a space that does not exceed 150 square meters in which more than five thousand martyrs are lying, among them are elderly, women, children and young people, almost forgotten because of their Arab identity and their Arab cause. Humanity ignored these martyrs who died; a revolution and resistance were created leading to the victory of Arabs in southern Lebanon and the creation of the stone revolution in occupied Palestine.
If the Arab memory is in the depths of the corridors of the era of defeat and refraction against Israel and its allies, the memory of the Sabra and Shatila massacre, always comes to pay tribute to the tragedy, which draws the silent world’s conscience on Israel’s crimes which have been going on for more than half a century.
4-2-3- No mercy was shown to anyone[ii]
Residents from both camps gave vivid testimonies about the hideous massacre.
– Haj Abu Ibrahim Zuayter, and his wife, Um Ibrahim narrated scenes of the massacre, they lost 42 people from their family in this massacre, Haj Zuayter said: “no mercy was shown to anyone, even cats and dogs were not spared from their hatred, and their toxic crimes, we’ve collected the victims among our family in jute and nylon bags, two days after the massacre and they are in the conscience of all the officials and the world, and their cause is with all the humanitarian organizations”.
– Um Ibrahim said: “The victims were like slaughtered cattle in the street, blood was covering everyone, the elderly and young, they were crammed into piles of human meat, some of them slaughtered from vein to vein, others dismembered, and the bodies were all distorted to the point that we could not recognize our own children… (Like in a slaughterhouse)”.
– Haj Zuayter adds: “Only coincidence saved us, because we were lucky and were able in the absence of the criminals to leave the place. When we came back after two days we saw the atrocities that cannot be imagined by any sane person, nor accepted by any conscience – the tragedy was very large, our strength were patience and faith in the justice of our cause, and our sacred right to live. They thought they were killing a homeland; they failed to know that the death of those innocent martyrs would set off a revolution and create a resistance and heroes, from the womb of the tragedy, who know how to defeat enemies and achieve victory”.
– The only living witness to the facts of the massacre is Mohammed Shamas, 38 years old, who miraculously survived, and rose from the dead after 36 hours of the massacre… he was among those who were destined to live he was a quiet man, and had seven children who gathered around him. He said: “on the afternoon of that fateful day, the enemy circled the neighborhood from all sides, and Hobeika was standing on that surface (he pointed with his hand to a building on the opposite of the entrance to the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila). Gunmen gathered the population in the street, old people, young people, children, men and women and ordered them to kneel; the ones who did not find a place to kneel stood facing the wall”
Mohammed Shamas stops a little, almost bursts into tears and adds: “the last scene before the massacre begins with our neighbor Abu Marhaf, holding 500 LBP who were taken by a gunman.Abu Marhaf asked the gunman to split the money with him as he didn’t have any money left.Beforebefore the gunman answered him, the shooting started randomly, and in a second, thousands of victims died lying in their own blood. The shootings were repeated several times to ensure the death of everyone, and the gunmen were moving among the victims, slaughtering the ones who were still breathing, blowing up their heads, dismembering them without any mercy and raping women until the place turned into a “slaughterhouse”.
And how did you survive the massacre?
Shamas sighed, shaking his head, saying: “When they started shooting bullets, I fell on purpose on the floor over my father and my brother, they did not get me on the first round, but they returned on the second round firing their hateful bullets on everyone individually, and I took my share of seven bullets on my body, bodies of some victims fell on me but did not kill me”.
Did someone notice that you did not die?
No… Because I pretended to be dead, and when they stood over my head I stopped breathing and did not move a finger for more than ten minutes, they did not leave the place before making sure everyone was dead. They brutally stepped with their shoes on the heads and bodies of children and women … they killed every living thing, even cats and dogs were not spared from their bullets. I may have lost consciousness for a while, and the weight of the dead bodies piled up on top of me prevented my withdrawal from the dead. Hobeika was watching what was going on from afar with binoculars, I saw him with my own eyes”.
“On the third day of the massacre, on the morning of 18.09.1982, I managed to move, after I removed off my chest the bodies of my father and my brother, I crawled among the thousands of bodies piled everywhere asking for help, my bleeding wounds prevented my arrival to a safe place, all the bodies were bloated, I had no choice but to cross over them. I remember well when my hand was touching someone’s body, peeling off their skin which got attached to my hands.
After a long fight between life and death, the gunmen left the area, ambulances from the Lebanese Red Cross and the Palestinian Crescent arrived and I do not know what happened later and I woke up in the hospital… It was the massacre of the era”.
[i]. Details of the massacre, as published and documented in various media agencies and Arab and Palestinian newspapers.
[ii]. Details here, as published in the Palestinian newspaper al-Ayyam, citing Al-Ahram 18/09/2000 Cairo.
Palestinian Land day
Palestinian Land day:
4-1-1- “The spark”
On the first of March 1976 the governor of the Northern District of the Occupation in occupied Palestine (1948), Yisrael King, prepared a very secret document named after him and included several racist suggestions on how to defeat what the occupation authorities called at the time the risk of the Arab population growth.
The content of the document included in several of its sections the terms “Arab demographic problem” or “increasing Arab population” and the danger it poses on the existence, the security and the future of the Zionist entity and its plans. The document also included the issue of the Arab economy, employment and education… etc.
- The subject ofdemographic balancein occupiedGalileebetween Arabs and Jewsconstitutea big part of”King’s document”
The fascist wrote, “natural reproduction among the Arab population is 5.9% per annum, while among the Jewish community it is 1.5%.”[i] King suggested based on his following statements the “resettlement of Jews in areas where Arabs constitute the majority, and, to reduce the existing Arab population communities by restricting and reducing what he called “the Arab population expansion”
- Regarding the economicissue and Arab workers, King suggested and demanded to separate Arab workers working in industrial plants and Jewish construction sites particularly in the North region.
The purpose is to create unemployment among the Arab community.
- King also suggested implementing measures aimed to reduce the academic education of Arabs and the elimination ofArab intellectuals,
Through their displacement out of their homeland and imposing unemployment on who is left of them in the homeland.”[ii]
- The subject of Arabland represented the essence of “King’s document” and the policy ofthe occupation authorities.
In the aftermath of this document and a few days later, the occupation authorities announced the confiscation of thousands of acres of Arab land in occupied Palestine. The impact and pace of events escalated, to reach a peak on the thirtieth of March 1976,
as “the Palestinian Arab population announced a comprehensive general strike which prevailed throughout all the territories of Occupied Palestine in protest against the Judaization and confiscation policy”[iii]. The strike was announced on that day of struggle confirming the determination of the Arab masses to hard struggle for national rights, particularly the right of Arabs to stay in their territories and homeland.
- The occupation authoritiesresortedtothe harshestandmost violentrepressionand terrortactics toprevent thestrikeand to abort it.
The occupation authorities showed off its strength by sending massive military forces into Arab towns and villages, in particular in the occupied Nazareth area. However, no procedures and practices of the occupation stopped the Arab uprising. The outcome of the comprehensive strike was a reflection of the size of the clash between the tyrants, the tyrannized and the right holders,
- The Israeli occupation forcescommitted a bloodymassacre on that day causing the death of sixArab citizens,
On their home ground, while they were defending their dignity, they got baptized by their own blood on this historic day. This day reflected the unity of the Palestinian Arab masses and their determination to resist and discourage confiscation and the racial discrimination policy.
4-1-2- The project of Judaizing the Galilee
“In the wake of this historic day, the Committee for the Defense of Arab territories issued a statement to warn the Arab masses that the confiscation of Arab land policy is the most prominent feature of the policy of racial discrimination. As there was no more than half a million acres of land left for Arabs in occupied Palestine at the time, after all what was confiscated by the occupation authorities in various and under false pretexts.”[iv]
- The results of the project:
- Undermining ArabAgriculture: As a result of the confiscation proceduresand theblockade,anumber ofsubdivisions ofArabagriculture has been undermined because of thecontraction ofArabland areaand the decrease incultivatedland areafor agricultural from 49 acres during the British Mandateto aboutthreeacres.”
- Arab villagesturned intosleepingbarracksfor Arab workerswho have lefttheir villagesduring the day,to workin Jewish agricultureand industrieswhich were implantedon their usurped lands.
- In addition toall this,theprojectof Judaizingthe occupied Galilee entailedthe Judaizationof the future ofthe Arab population, who make up the majority inthis region, whichhas an area of5 millionacres, stretching fromthe borders of Lebanonto theJezreel Valley. This worriedthe Zionist leadersconstantly.
- The objectives of the project:
Regarding the project of Judaizing the Galilee, the occupation authorities mentioned the following: “The issue of the Galilee is the small number of Jewish residents compared to the number of non-Jewish residents – the Arabs – who make up 70% of the total population. In 1973, the number of Arabs in the Galilee was 147 thousand compared to 62 thousand Jews and, in the suburbs of Galilee, the number of Arabs was 40 thousand living in the suburbs of Haifa, Akka, Tamra and Shafa amro”[v]
The project emphasized the demographic character of the area and the primary task for the occupation authorities being to transform the Galilee into a region with a majority of Jewish population.
The “black book on land day” mentioned the following:
“Changing the current demographic situation between the Arab and Jewish populations through the project that had the following objectives:
- Convertthe mountainousGalileeregion to a regionwith a Jewishmajority.
- Ensure anew distribution–correct for theJewish populationin the Galilee.
- Strengthenthe economy of the Jewish populationwho will jointhemin the future.”[vi]
- The implementation of thisproject requires more lands to be seized,
The project talked about the “confiscation of about 20 thousand acres of land designated thus: eight thousands acres for the government, five thousand as Jewish land and there wasdisagreement about the ownership of the remaining 6-7 thousand acres.”
The Zionist occupation authorities have dealt with the Palestinian Arab population based on the following Zionist theory: “What has become in our hand is ours, and what is still in the hands of the Arabs is required and is subject to negotiations.”
Indeed, after the establishment of the upper Nazareth settlement on the Arab lands of Nazareth and the villages of Ein Mahel, Reinah, Kafr Kana and Mashhad, a few days before the thirtieth of March, the occupation authorities confiscated thousands of acres of land from Nazareth and its jurisdictions.
4-1-3- The commemoration
Since that day, on the thirtieth of March, Palestinian Arab masses commemorate this historic day every year. And every year sparks a new, angry, comprehensive uprising that stretches from Deir Hanna in the Galilee to the north of Rafah on the edge of the Sinai.
On the thirtieth of March each year Palestinian masses in the occupied homeland announce their adherence to their national identity and their rights confirming their determination to survive and continue to survive, despite the aggressive and violent measures taken by the occupation and its attempts to obliterate the national identity and the liquidation of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian Arab people.
This is the story of the historic Land Day – the day the Palestinian Arab people are reminded by the memory implanted in the hearts and emerging minds of the people from our community, who are wondering about the historic Land Day.
This is the story of Land Day, which is celebrated by the Palestinian masses in the occupied parts of the country each year in its own way, as it represents the meanings of unity… The unity of blood and destiny of the people of one Nation.
[i]. The Black Book on Land Day, 30/5/1976, Galilee publishing house, 1985, Amman, p.17.
[ii]. Haaretz newspaper 20/12/1989.
[iii]. Al HamIchmar newspaper, 9/3/1990.
[iv]. Haaretz newspaper 1/1/1991.
[v]. Al-Quds newspaper 10/3/1998.
[vi]. Al-Ayyam Palestinian newspaper 30/5/1998.