BreadBros
16th September 2006, 10:56
I'll quote one of my favorite sources of information, Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabra_and_Shatila_Massacre):
"The Sabra and Shatila massacre (or Sabra and Chatila massacre) was carried out in September 1982 by Lebanese Maronite Christian militias [1][2] (صبرا وشاتيلا) against refugee camps. The Maronite forces stood under the direct command of Elie Hobeika, who would later become a longtime Lebanese parliament member and in the 1990s also a cabinet minister. The number of victims of the massacre is estimated at 700-3500 (see below).
The camps were externally surrounded by Israeli soldiers throughout the incident, although the Israeli military personnel who were there claimed they had no idea of what was going on inside. The degree to which the Israeli military was involved in the incident is a matter of controversy (see below)."
"On the evening of September 16, 1982, the Phalangist militia, under the command of Elie Hobeika, entered the camps. For the next 36 to 48 hours, the Phalangists massacred the inhabitants of the refugee camps, while the Israeli military guarded the exits and allegedly continued to provide flares by night.
A unit of 150 Phalangists (including some SLA fighters, according to Saad Haddad as quoted by Robert Fisk, and also other sources) was assembled at 4:00 p.m. These militiamen armed with guns, knives and hatchets entered the camps at 6:00 p.m. A Phalangist officer reported 300 killings, including civilians, to the Israeli command post at 8:00 p.m., and further reports of these killings followed through the night. Some of these reports were forwarded to the Israeli government in Jerusalem and were seen by a number of Israel's senior officials.
At one point, a militiaman's radioed question to his commander Hobeika about what to do with the women and children in the refugee camp was overheard by an Israeli officer, who heard Hobeika reply that "This is the last time you're going to ask me a question like that; you know exactly what to do". Phalangist troops could be heard laughing in the background.[7] The Israeli officer reported this to his superior General Amos Yaron, who warned Hobeika against hurting civilians but took no further action. Lt. Avi Grabowsky was cited by the Kahan Commission as having seen (on that Friday) the murder of five women and children, and gave a hearsay report of a battalion commander saying of this, "We know, it's not to our liking, and don't interfere." Israeli soldiers surrounding the camps turned back Palestinians fleeing the camps, as filmed by a Visnews cameraman.
Later in the afternoon, a meeting was held between the Israeli Chief of Staff and the Phalangist staff. According to the Kahan Commission's report (based on a Mossad agent's report), the Chief of Staff concluded that the Phalange should "continue action, mopping up the empty camps south of Fakahani until tomorrow at 5:00 a.m., at which time they must stop their action due to American pressure." He claimed that he had "no feeling that something irregular had occurred or was about to occur in the camps." At this meeting, he also agreed to provide the militia with a tractor, supposedly to demolish buildings.
On Friday, September 17, while the camps still were sealed off, a few independent observers managed to enter. Among them were a Norwegian journalist and diplomat Gunnar Flakstad, who observed Phalangists during their cleanup operations, removing dead bodies from destroyed houses in the Shatila camp".[9]"
"On September 28, the Israeli Government resolved to establish a Commission of Inquiry, which was led by former Supreme Court Justice Kahan. The report included evidence from Israeli army personnel, as well as political figures and Phalangist officers. In the report, published in the spring of 1983, the Kahan Commission stated that there was no evidence that Israeli units took direct part in the massacre and that it was the "direct responsibility of Phalangists". However, the Commission recorded that Israeli military personnel were aware that a massacre was in progress without taking serious steps to stop it, and that reports of a massacre in progress were made to senior Israeli officers and even to an Israeli cabinet minister; it therefore regarded Israel as bearing part of the "indirect responsibility". Among those it considered to bear a part of this indirect responsibility, the commission found that Ariel Sharon "bears personal responsibility" and recommended his dismissal from the post of Defense Minister; it also recommended the dismissal of Director of Military Intelligence Yehoshua Saguy, and the effective demotion of Division Commander Amos Yaron for at least three years. These recommendations were carried out. Even though the Kahan Commission concluded that Sharon should not hold public office again, he would later become Prime Minister of Israel.[17]"
24 years ago today, somewhere around 3,500 Palestinian men, women and children were brutally massacred by Lebanese Fascist militias under the guidance, support and aid of the Israeli military, including Defense Minister Ariel Sharon who was determined by his own country to bear personal responsibility. The civilians only "crime" was being poor, Palestinian and having been kicked out of their homes by imperialists.
So whenever someone tells you they support Israel (especially any "leftist") please ask them why exactly Ariel Sharon and the Israeli military stood by and did nothing to help Palestinians (in fact, they turned those who they caught escaping back into the camp, to their eventual death) who were being massacred by Lebanese Fascists even after the Israeli military internal documents and Israeli courts have found that not only did the military know exactly what was going on inside, but also knew that there were no PLO soldiers inside and the location provided ZERO security threat.
"The Sabra and Shatila massacre (or Sabra and Chatila massacre) was carried out in September 1982 by Lebanese Maronite Christian militias [1][2] (صبرا وشاتيلا) against refugee camps. The Maronite forces stood under the direct command of Elie Hobeika, who would later become a longtime Lebanese parliament member and in the 1990s also a cabinet minister. The number of victims of the massacre is estimated at 700-3500 (see below).
The camps were externally surrounded by Israeli soldiers throughout the incident, although the Israeli military personnel who were there claimed they had no idea of what was going on inside. The degree to which the Israeli military was involved in the incident is a matter of controversy (see below)."
"On the evening of September 16, 1982, the Phalangist militia, under the command of Elie Hobeika, entered the camps. For the next 36 to 48 hours, the Phalangists massacred the inhabitants of the refugee camps, while the Israeli military guarded the exits and allegedly continued to provide flares by night.
A unit of 150 Phalangists (including some SLA fighters, according to Saad Haddad as quoted by Robert Fisk, and also other sources) was assembled at 4:00 p.m. These militiamen armed with guns, knives and hatchets entered the camps at 6:00 p.m. A Phalangist officer reported 300 killings, including civilians, to the Israeli command post at 8:00 p.m., and further reports of these killings followed through the night. Some of these reports were forwarded to the Israeli government in Jerusalem and were seen by a number of Israel's senior officials.
At one point, a militiaman's radioed question to his commander Hobeika about what to do with the women and children in the refugee camp was overheard by an Israeli officer, who heard Hobeika reply that "This is the last time you're going to ask me a question like that; you know exactly what to do". Phalangist troops could be heard laughing in the background.[7] The Israeli officer reported this to his superior General Amos Yaron, who warned Hobeika against hurting civilians but took no further action. Lt. Avi Grabowsky was cited by the Kahan Commission as having seen (on that Friday) the murder of five women and children, and gave a hearsay report of a battalion commander saying of this, "We know, it's not to our liking, and don't interfere." Israeli soldiers surrounding the camps turned back Palestinians fleeing the camps, as filmed by a Visnews cameraman.
Later in the afternoon, a meeting was held between the Israeli Chief of Staff and the Phalangist staff. According to the Kahan Commission's report (based on a Mossad agent's report), the Chief of Staff concluded that the Phalange should "continue action, mopping up the empty camps south of Fakahani until tomorrow at 5:00 a.m., at which time they must stop their action due to American pressure." He claimed that he had "no feeling that something irregular had occurred or was about to occur in the camps." At this meeting, he also agreed to provide the militia with a tractor, supposedly to demolish buildings.
On Friday, September 17, while the camps still were sealed off, a few independent observers managed to enter. Among them were a Norwegian journalist and diplomat Gunnar Flakstad, who observed Phalangists during their cleanup operations, removing dead bodies from destroyed houses in the Shatila camp".[9]"
"On September 28, the Israeli Government resolved to establish a Commission of Inquiry, which was led by former Supreme Court Justice Kahan. The report included evidence from Israeli army personnel, as well as political figures and Phalangist officers. In the report, published in the spring of 1983, the Kahan Commission stated that there was no evidence that Israeli units took direct part in the massacre and that it was the "direct responsibility of Phalangists". However, the Commission recorded that Israeli military personnel were aware that a massacre was in progress without taking serious steps to stop it, and that reports of a massacre in progress were made to senior Israeli officers and even to an Israeli cabinet minister; it therefore regarded Israel as bearing part of the "indirect responsibility". Among those it considered to bear a part of this indirect responsibility, the commission found that Ariel Sharon "bears personal responsibility" and recommended his dismissal from the post of Defense Minister; it also recommended the dismissal of Director of Military Intelligence Yehoshua Saguy, and the effective demotion of Division Commander Amos Yaron for at least three years. These recommendations were carried out. Even though the Kahan Commission concluded that Sharon should not hold public office again, he would later become Prime Minister of Israel.[17]"
24 years ago today, somewhere around 3,500 Palestinian men, women and children were brutally massacred by Lebanese Fascist militias under the guidance, support and aid of the Israeli military, including Defense Minister Ariel Sharon who was determined by his own country to bear personal responsibility. The civilians only "crime" was being poor, Palestinian and having been kicked out of their homes by imperialists.
So whenever someone tells you they support Israel (especially any "leftist") please ask them why exactly Ariel Sharon and the Israeli military stood by and did nothing to help Palestinians (in fact, they turned those who they caught escaping back into the camp, to their eventual death) who were being massacred by Lebanese Fascists even after the Israeli military internal documents and Israeli courts have found that not only did the military know exactly what was going on inside, but also knew that there were no PLO soldiers inside and the location provided ZERO security threat.