Wed 21 Sep 2005
September 16, 1982 was the day that Christian Phalangists, with the occupying Israeli army’s permission, entered Chatila camp and went on a killing spree. The pretense was that they were going in to find “terrorists”– PLO fighters, but the PLO had been evacuated to Tunisia with Yasser Arafat. Mostly women, children, and elderly remained in the camp. Part of the agreement with Arafat, promised by the United States, was that if the PLO left, the camps would be protected.
They weren’t. The militia men went in and killed whole families in their homes and wherever they could find them. This went on for 3 days. Israeli soldiers watched from a nearby hill, providing flares at night so that the killers could see what they were doing. Some victims were shot, but many were killed with knives. It is believed that this was done so that others would not be alerted to what was going on and therefore could not escape. When I have listened to the stories of survivors, one startling thing is that people didn’t know that it was going on all around them. There were rumors, but many didn’t believe that it could actually be happening. Somewhere between 800-1500 people, mostly Palestinians, were murdered.
We went to a memorial/demonstration on Friday, the 23rd anniversary. We marched to the mass grave and stood on the ground where hundreds of victims are buried. We didn’t understand the speeches, but it felt good to stand with this community, to remember and object to these war crimes, for which no one has been punished.
September 21st, 2005 at 5:22 pm
Thanks so much for posting this, Amy. It’s really amazing that these crimes have gone unanswered, although I guess I should stop being amazed by that sort of thing.
One question – does the Phalange party still exist in any form?
September 21st, 2005 at 6:41 pm
Deiz y seis
September 21st, 2005 at 7:59 pm
Yes, they still exist. They are known locally as the Kataeb Party.
What preceded the massacre was the assasination of Bashir Gemayel, leader of the Kataeb/Lebanese Forces.. he had recently been elected president. He is still a huge martyr/hero to Maronites here. No one has ever proved who killed him.
Elie Hobeika, who was the commander of the Kataeb army at the time of the massacre, was assasinated in 2002, just before he was supposed to testify against Sharon in a Belgian court.