{"id":10777,"date":"2009-09-16T16:04:23","date_gmt":"2009-09-16T21:04:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/?p=10777"},"modified":"2009-09-16T16:04:23","modified_gmt":"2009-09-16T21:04:23","slug":"mazin-qumsiyeh-sabra-and-shatila-action-on-new-un-report-strike-oct-1st","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/?p=10777","title":{"rendered":"Mazin Qumsiyeh: Sabra and Shatila, Action on new UN report, Strike Oct. 1st"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD
\n16 September 2009<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

In today\u2019s digest: 1) A 1918 statement on Palestine-Zionist conflict by President Woodrow Wilson that remains valid today, 2) a very important action call about the just released UN report on Israeli war crimes (please act), 3) a news item on Palestinian citizens of Israel calling for a general strike on Oct 1st<\/sup>, and 4) we commemorate the anniversary of the massacre of Sabra and Shatila (my review of a book on the subject included).<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A 1918 statement by the President of the US that remains valid<\/strong>
\n\u201cThe settlement of every question, whether of territory, of sovereignty, of economic arrangement, or political relationship, rests upon the basis of the free acceptance of that settlement by the people immediately concerned, and not upon the basis of the material interest or advantage of any other nation or people which may desire a different settlement for the sake of its own exterior influence or mastery.\u00a0 If that principle is to rule, and so the wishes of Palestine\u2019s population are to be decisive as to what is to be done with Palestine, then it is to be remembered that the non-Jewish population of Palestine \u2013 nearly nine-tenths of the whole \u2013 are emphatically against the entire Zionist program.\u00a0 The tables show that there was no one thing upon which the population of Palestine were more agreed upon than this.\u00a0 To subject a people so minded to unlimited Jewish immigration, and to steady financial and social pressure to surrender the land, would be a gross violation of the principle just quoted, and of the People\u2019s rights, though it is kept within the forms of law.\u201d<\/em> (President Woodrow Wilson speech on Independence Day July 4, 1918, text in Tannous, Izzat. 1988. The Palestinians: Eyewitness History of Palestine Under British Mandate. I.G.T. Company, New York, p. 72.)<\/p>\n

VERY IMPORTANT ACTION ITEM: UN Investigation should result in criminal charges! Maximum publicity and lobbying efforts needed.<\/strong>
\nMany of us had seen Israeli human rights group, B’Tselem\u2019s report \u00a0that 773 of the 1,387 Palestinians killed in Gaza last winter were civilians including over 300 children (use of white phosphorous and other weapons in civilian areas is also widely reported by B\u2019Tselem and other human rights groups).\u00a0 Thirteen Israelis (10 soldiers, three civilians were killed during the same \u201cOperation Cast Lead\u201d.\u00a0 Now an independent UN Commission led by respected war crimes investigator Justice Richard Goldstone (Jewish from South Africa) reported in 575 pages (38 pages executive summary up front) details of what it described as gross violations of human rights and war crimes.\u00a0 Using very harsh language for Israeli actions. The Israeli government is mobilizing its spin machine and going into hyperdrive to try to prevent its officers from being brought before the International Criminal Court at the Hague. Let us all write to\/call President Obama (Tel 202-456-1111 and\/or http:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/CONTACT\/<\/a> )\u00a0and all world politicians to demand that indeed Israeli war criminals are brought to justice. And let us use this report to start legal proceedings in different countries against Israeli politicians because there is clear evidence as tehcommission puts it that \u201cthere are serious doubts about the willingness of Israel to carry out genuine investigations in an impartial, independent, prompt and effective way as required by international law. The Mission is also of the view that the Israeli system overall presents inherently discriminatory features that make the pursuit of justice for Palestinian victims very difficult.\u201d. \u00a0\u201cThe Mission then makes recommendations to a number of United Nations bodies, Israel, responsible Palestinian authorities and the international community, in the areas of: (i) Accountability for serious violations of International Humanitarian Law; (b) Reparations; (c) Serious violations of human rights law; (d) The blockade and reconstruction; (e) The use of weapons and military procedures; (f) The protection of human rights organizations and defenders; (g) Follow up to the Mission\u2019s recommendations. The recommendations are detailed in Chapter XXX.\u201d The full report (PDF) is at http:\/\/www2.ohchr.org\/english\/bodies\/hrcouncil\/specialsession\/9\/docs\/UNFFMGC_Report.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s Arab Citizens Call General Strike by Jonathan Cook<\/strong>
\nThe increasingly harsh political climate in Israel under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s right-wing government has prompted the leadership of the country\u2019s 1.3 million Arab citizens to call the first general strike in several years. The one-day stoppage is due to take place on October 1, a date heavy with symbolism because it marks the anniversary of another general strike, in 2000 at the start of the second intifada, when 13 Arab demonstrators were shot dead by Israeli police. The Arab leadership said it was responding to a string of what it called\u00a0 “racist” government measures that cast the Arab minority, a fifth of the population, as enemies of the state. http:\/\/www.counterpunch.org\/cook09092009.html<\/a><\/p>\n

We commemorate the anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacre<\/strong> in honor of the hundreds of men, women and children killed by death squads armed, trained, financed, and instructed by the Israeli colonial masters.\u00a0 For a good background, I suggest people buy the book “Sabra and Shatila: September 1982” by Bayan Nuwayhed Al-Hout, 2004, Pluto Press. Below is my 2005 review of the book that summarizes its amazing accomplishment.\u00a0 For other background on the massacre and Sharon’s responsibility, visit http:\/\/www.indictsharon.net\/<\/a><\/p>\n

“Sabra and Shatila: September 1982” Bayan Nuwayhed Al-Hout, 2004, Pluto Press, London and Ann Arbor, MI, 462 pp., 36 photographs, 5 maps<\/p>\n

Book Review published in the Holy Land Studies Journal, Spring 2005 by Mazin Qumsiyeh<\/span><\/p>\n

It would be correct but rather reductionist to state that this remarkable book is the most comprehensive and thorough documentation of the events of the massacres at Sabra and Shatila. The mark of a good book is that it leaves the reader changed and this volume does that. Upon first hearing about this book, my first and incorrect inclination was that perhaps I do not need to read it.\u00a0\u00a0Many of us Palestinians assume we know the suffering of our people over the past six decades, we have seen it and we have lived it.\u00a0\u00a0This thought quickly evaporated after flipping through the first few pages of this book and then it was hard to put it down.<\/p>\n

It is appropriate that this edition came out in English after its initial publication in Arabic. Knowingly or unknowingly, many in the Western world lend their name and their tax money to support atrocities like the Sabra and Shatila massacre. Would it help those taxpayers see what is being done with their tax money and US diplomatic support?\u00a0\u00a0Would it help bring people to a better understanding of the “situation”?\u00a0\u00a0More importantly would it bring us closer to see the victims of this particular massacre as people and not mere numbers? Having lived in the US for many years I wanted to look at this English version from that perspective. I also wanted to compare it to other books that relate personal testimonies of survivors of atrocities.<\/p>\n

Those murdered in Sabra and Shatila are not around to tell us their stories so we are left with the survivors, those relatives and friends and acquaintances who witnessed the event and\/or came to pick the bodies and the pieces of their shattered lives. Telling their stories is not easy.\u00a0\u00a0A writer or editor of such a compilation has the heavy responsibility (and duty) to his or her subjects to let them tell the story with as little interference as possible.\u00a0\u00a0It is not easy to craft careful and neutral questions that allow for free and open answers. It is also not easy to select from all your interviews individual accounts to include in a readable book.\u00a0\u00a0It is not easy to research names then cross check all references and resources to ensure presenting a picture that is as close as possible to the reality of what happened.\u00a0\u00a0All this and more are achieved in this book.<\/p>\n

The first part of this book consists of six chapters that relay the statements and testimonies of the families and witnesses.\u00a0\u00a0The first two chapters cover the place and time and events leading up to the massacre including the encirclement of the camps by the Israeli army.\u00a0\u00a0Chapters 3-5 cover chronologically the events of September 16-18; the horrific 40-hour period in which nearly 2000 men, women, and children were systematically massacred or abducted and “disappeared”.\u00a0\u00a0Chapter 6 covers testimonies covering the search for victims following the massacre.\u00a0\u00a0Forty-six actual testimonies were selected and included in these six chapters out of total direct testimonies gathered on 430 victims (about half Palestinian, 28% Lebanese, and the remainder belonging to other nationalities).<\/p>\n

The second part of this book summarizes the research (including field study) conducted by the author into the massacre.\u00a0\u00a0Chapter 7 reviews results of the detailed field study conducted in 1984.<\/p>\n

Chapter 8 analyzes the issue of the number of victims killed.\u00a0\u00a0The chilling method used by Israeli governments to minimize the casualties (in the Kahan report) is analyzed in detail.\u00a0\u00a0In one part, the author recounts what the historian Toynbee once said in debate with Yaacov Herzog in 1961.\u00a0\u00a0Hetzog lashed out at Toynbee for mentioning the Nazi atrocities in talking about the massacre of Palestinians in Deir Yassin in 1948.\u00a0\u00a0Herzog\u2019s contention was that the deaths of a few hundred Palestinians could never be even discussed in relation to the horror on Nazi atrocities.\u00a0\u00a0Toynbee\u2019s answer was that “Every increase in numbers produces an increase in suffering but it is impossible to be wicked or criminal more than 100%.”\u00a0\u00a0She ten explained how the wickedness of trying to obfuscate reality or minimize the numbers of victims (as happened in the Israeli Kahan report).\u00a0\u00a0There are lessons to be learned from that.\u00a0\u00a0Yet, the most astonishing fact is that no authority (Israeli, Lebanese, or Palestinian) took it upon itself to compile a list of the victims.\u00a0\u00a0As such, the list compiled by this author must remain the most complete such list to date.<\/p>\n

There are four appendices to the work.\u00a0\u00a0Appendix 1 contains 28 tables related to the field study. Appendix 2 provides the most comprehensive listing of names of those known killed (906 names) or abducted and missing (484 names). Given that only a handful of the missing were ever found, over 1300 human beings lost their lives with this tragedy.<\/p>\n

The book ends with a series of remarkable photographs. Most are ones I have never seen before and I am sure other readers will find equally transforming.\u00a0\u00a0Most books place such photos in the middle of the book or close to the beginning.\u00a0\u00a0A photograph it is said is worth a thousand words.\u00a0\u00a0But a photograph can elicit all sorts of emotions that then detract from the importance of reading the text itself.\u00a0\u00a0In this case, the placement of the photos at the end was the right decision and I urge readers to read this text in the order it is presented.\u00a0\u00a0For me, this was particularly powerful.\u00a0\u00a0I, as a reader was able to read the testimonies and review the facts and figures taking time to draw the relevant lessons learned before I saw at the end a series of pictures of what the scene of the crime looked like. To me the most remarkable and damning evidence of Israeli culpability and the accompanying lies about the massacre are found on pages 304-317 and buttressed by pictures and maps of the Israeli command center overseeing the camp.\u00a0\u00a0Anyone examining this evidence and International law understands the culpability of the Israeli politicians, commanders and soldiers.\u00a0\u00a0They knew the camps were undefended, they knew that massacres would be committed by the 150 Phallange militias they invited in, they knew the bloody outcome would happen, and finally they watched without interfering as this unfolded over three days.<\/p>\n

I never met the author, Dr. Bayan Nuwayah Al-Hout, a faculty member at the Lebanese University for the past 25 years. I can only marvel at the amount of efforts over two decades that such a project demanded.\u00a0\u00a0It is usually something done by well-financed teams with a cadre of paid staff.\u00a0\u00a0For the author to have done this with very limited resources and help is truly admirable.<\/p>\n

It was once said that the sign of a good book is that when you close the last page it is like saying goodbye to a dear friend.\u00a0\u00a0Well in this case, it is like saying goodbye to hundreds of friends: those who died in that tragic massacre and those who survived to recount the stories and live their lives awaiting justice. If we are to honor them all then we must engage in the quest for peace with justice.<\/p>\n

When in a few years, a museum is built for the Nakba (catastrophe) that befell the Palestinian people, it will have a prominent place in it for Sabra and Shatila.\u00a0\u00a0This book will be the key resource for this.\u00a0\u00a0Those who care for human rights should buy it, read it, and learn the lessons from it.<\/p>\n

There is a section at the end of the book, not given a chapter status and seeming as orphaned as the Children of Sabra and Shatila, that is simply titled “Conclusion: who was responsible.”\u00a0\u00a0For those looking for the simplified answers of assigning blame to just one person or party, they will be disappointed.\u00a0\u00a0For those who want to use the lessons learned from this tragedy to prevent future tragedy, the careful analysis here is a must reading.\u00a0\u00a0From the Lebanese militia, to the local Israeli commanders guarding the camps, to Ariel Sharon who gave the go ahead, to the Lebanese government, all share some of the guilt. But ultimately, all of us who heard the news and who took no action are responsible for the continuation of a string of atrocities against civilians.\u00a0\u00a0On page 324, the author quotes from the song lyrics of the Argentinean singer Alberto Cortez:
\n“Where was the sun when anger burst at Sabra and Shatila?\u00a0\u00a0Where was I? At what party, careless, when I read the news? And where were you \u2013 you so eager to defend the oppressed \u2013 when the massacre happened?\u00a0\u00a0Where is the pride of men? Where were you my friend with the sleeping conscience?..”<\/p>\n

The road between the atrocities of Sabra and Shatila runs rather short to those of Jenin, Nablus and Rafah of today and to our suppressed humanity. Such books can be our tour guides.<\/p>\n

Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD, is author of “Sharing the Land of Canaan: Human Rights and the Israeli-Palestinian Struggle” http:\/\/qumsiyeh.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD 16 September 2009 In today\u2019s digest: 1) A 1918 statement on Palestine-Zionist conflict by President Woodrow Wilson that remains valid today, 2) a very important action call about the just released UN report on Israeli war crimes … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pdXTf-2NP","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10777"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10777\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10793,"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10777\/revisions\/10793"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/karmalised.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}