ESP – ENG
The Israeli occupation of Palestine is characterized by two major elements: violence and impunity. And one of the episodes that epitomized this was the Sabra and Shatila massacre.
In June 1982, the Israeli army invaded Lebanon, which had become the main headquarters of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). After several weeks of fighting, the so-called Multinational Force in Lebanon, made up of American, British, French and Italian troops, brokered a ceasefire and the withdrawal of the PLO on August 30.
In the midst of a turbulent context in Lebanon, during a civil war (1975-1990) involving external actors such as Syria, the absence of the PLO left the large Palestinian population in the country defenseless, especially in Beirut. The conditions were ripe for a massacre.
Between September 16 and 18, the Lebanese Phalanges, an extreme right-wing Christian paramilitary organization supported by Israel, unleashed death in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Beirut. The excuse, proven to be false, was that there were guerrillas «hiding» there.
The zionist army was more than a witness to the massacre, having blocked the exits of the camps and fired flares to illuminate the terrain at night and allow the mass murder of Palestinian civilians, as well as some Lebanese Shiites, to continue.
In total, an estimated 800 to 3500 people were killed. Some bodies were identified and others simply disappeared. Sabra and Shatila are a particularly dark episode in a long history of crimes committed against the Palestinian people. An episode that, like all the others, remained unpunished. The liberation of Palestine shall bring justice.
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Text: Ricardo Vaz. Ilustración: Kalia León.