The Peace FAQ:
Sabra and Shatila
Frequently Asked Questions:
- What is 'Sabra & Shatila?
- Who killed the Arabs in the town?
- But didn't Israel knowingly allow the Christians into the town in order to perpetrate the massacre?
- How many were killed? Were women and children targeted?
- Why did the Christians kill those Arabs?
- Doesn't Israel have any remorse or regrets over what happened?
- Did Ariel Sharon allow the massacre to happen?
What is 'Sabra & Shatila?
- Sabra & Shatila are Arab "refugee camps" located in Lebanon. It is in fact a town used for terrorist training, and targeting of Christian communities, and ultimately Israel. A massacre was perpetrated on its residents in 1982, which, like Deir Yassin in Jerusalem, and Qana in southern Lebanon, is blamed on Israel by the anti-Zionists, and held up as an example of Israel's "brutality".
Who killed the Arabs in the town?
- The Lebanese Christian Phalangist militia was responsible for the massacres that occurred at the two Beirut-area refugee camps on September 16-17, 1982.
But didn't Israel knowingly allow the Christians into the town in order to perpetrate the massacre?
- Israeli troops allowed the
Phalangists to enter Sabra and Shatila to root out terrorist cells
believed located there. It had been estimated that there may have
been up to 200 armed men in the camps working out of the countless
bunkers built by the PLO over the years, and stocked with generous
reserves of ammunition.
Israel had allowed the Phalange to enter the camps as part of a plan to transfer authority to the Lebanese, and accepted responsibility for that decision.
How many were killed? Were women and children targeted?
- When Israeli soldiers ordered the Phalangists out, they found
hundreds dead (estimates range from 460 according to the Lebanese
police, to 700-800 calculated by Israeli intelligence). The
dead, according to the Lebanese account, included 35 women and
children. The rest were men: Palestinians, Lebanese, Pakistanis,
Iranians, Syrians and Algerians. The killings came on top of an
estimated 95,000 deaths that had occurred during the civil war
in Lebanon from 1975-1982.
Why did the Christians kill those Arabs?
- The killings were perpetrated to avenge the murders of Lebanese
President Bashir Gemayel and 25 of his followers, killed in a
bomb attack earlier that week.
Doesn't Israel have any remorse or regrets over what happened?
-
The Kahan Commission of Inquiry, formed by
the Israeli government in response to public outrage and grief,
found that Israel was indirectly responsible for not anticipating
the possibility of Phalangist violence. Israel instituted the
panel's recommendations, including the dismissal of Defense Minister
Ariel Sharon and Gen. Raful Eitan, the Army Chief of Staff.
The Kahan Commission, declared former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, was "a great tribute to Israeli democracy....There are very few governments in the world that one can imagine making such a public investigation of such a difficult and shameful episode."
Ironically, while 300,000 Israelis demonstrated in Israel to protest the killings, little or no reaction occurred in the Arab world. Outside the Middle East, a major international outcry against Israel erupted over the massacres. The Phalangists, who perpetrated the crime, were spared the brunt of the condemnations for it.
By contrast, few voices were raised in May 1985, when Muslim militiamen
attacked the Shatila and Burj-el Barajneh Palestinian refugee
camps. According to UN officials, 635 were killed and 2,500 wounded.
During a two-year battle between the Syrian-backed Shiite
Amal militia and the PLO, more than 2,000, including many civilians,
were reportedly killed. No outcry was directed at the PLO or the
Syrians and their allies over the slaughter. International reaction
was also muted in October 1990 when Syrian forces overran Christian-controlled
areas of Lebanon. In the eight-hour clash, 700 Christians
were killed-the worst single battle of Lebanon's Civil War.
Did Ariel Sharon allow the massacre to happen?
- Under Construction
- RELATED SECTIONS:
Lebanon, Qana, Deir Yassin, Anti-Zionism, War, Terrorism, Moral Relativism, Christians, Refugees
- WWW RESOURCES:
- BOOKS & PRINTED MATERIAL:
- Operation Peace for Galilee: The Israeli-PLO War in Lebanon, by Richard A. Gabriel
[VIEW BOOK HERE] - Blood libel: The inside story of General Ariel Sharon's history-making suit against Time magazine, by Uri Dan
[VIEW BOOK HERE] - Warrior: An Autobiography, by Ariel Sharon, David Chanoff
[VIEW BOOK HERE] - Sharon: Israel's Warrior-Politician, by Anita Miller, Jordan Miller, Sigalit Zetouni
[VIEW BOOK HERE] - Fabricating Israeli History, by Efraim Karsh
[VIEW BOOK HERE] - From Time Immemorial: The Origins of the Arab-Jewish Conflict over Palestine, by Joan Peters
[VIEW BOOK HERE] - The complete idiot's guide to Middle East conflict, by Mitchell G. Bard
[VIEW BOOK HERE] - The Case for Israel, by Alan Dershowitz
[VIEW BOOK HERE] - The Siege: The Saga of Israel and Zionism, by Conor Cruise O'Brien
[VIEW BOOK HERE]
- Operation Peace for Galilee: The Israeli-PLO War in Lebanon, by Richard A. Gabriel
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