Remembering the Sabra And Shatilla massacre 35 years on
Memorial at the site of the Sabra and Shatila massacre in the outskirts of Beirut
Nabil Mohamad writes in the International Middle East Media Centre:
On September 16, 1982, following the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the right-wing Christian Phalange militia stormed the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps, in West Beirut, and began a massacre which ended in the deaths of hundreds, maybe thousands, of mostly Palestinian civilians. I was 19 years old, at the time. By chance and by luck, I managed to survive. My mother and five younger sisters and brothers; and my uncle, his wife and eight kids did not.
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Thirty-five years after the massacre, Israel continues to abuse Palestinian rights without consequence, and to enable the violence of its proxies, whether it is the Phalange, as in the past, or, as with today, illegal Israeli settlers living on occupied Palestinian land. Settler attacks on Palestinian property, lands, and persons have terrorised thousands, and killed families, almost in their entirety, such as last year’s arson attack on a Palestinian home which killed a mother, a father, and their 18-month baby. Palestinian complaints filed against settlers go unindicted by Israel. In fact, as documented by Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem, “The [Israeli] military serves the settlers by allowing the attackers to simply walk away.” When they do take action, Israeli soldiers are more likely to support the settlers, often allowing them to continue attacking Palestinians, rather than shielding innocent civilians. And, the Israeli military itself continues to commit war crimes with impunity, as evidenced by Israel’s repeated attacks on the tiny, besieged Gaza Strip, over the past decade, which have killed thousands of innocent Palestinians with disproportionate and indiscriminate force.
The dehumanisation of Palestinians by Israel also continues. It was this same dehumanisation that led Israel to allow vengeful militiamen to enter the Sabra and Shatilla camps, and that permits Israelis to occupy another people’s land for fifty years, while inflicting humiliation and injury. That indifference to the fate of the Palestinians does not belong solely to Israel. Israel’s 69 years of dispossession and a half-century of military rule is supported by unconditional American military aid and diplomatic backing. International bodies, like the UN Security Council, have repeatedly made note of Israel’s human rights violations, but done nothing more.