Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 21 - 27 September 2000 Issue No. 500
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875

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Recollections of horror

By Ranwa Yehia

Thousands of Palestinian refugees stood on Saturday before the mass grave on the edge of the Sabra and Shatila camps located in Beirut's southern suburbs, remembering whole families lost in the twin massacres. The slaughter began on 16 September 1982 and had resulted in the death of at least 2,750 people by September 18.

On 16 September 1982, hundreds of right-wing Christian militiamen, directed by today's leader of the Israeli Likud Party, Ariel Sharon, entered the camps to flush out Palestinian guerrillas who had remained following the departure of the Palestine Liberation Organisation's troops two weeks earlier. Completely surrounded by Israeli tanks and troops, the Palestinian and Lebanese residents had nowhere to go. The hundreds of militiamen entered the camps armed with guns, axes and knives. Mass slaughtering of whole families, including infants, then took place. By the third day, the area was full of corpses, and the sand was red with the blood of Palestinian civilians.

The site of the mass grave is now used as a garbage dump and a vegetable market, although each year a few days before the anniversary the garbage is cleared. Recently a modest attempt to remedy this unfortunate situation has been made by the mayor of Ghobeiri, the municipality within which the mass grave is located. He has ordered a cleaning and restoration of the site and has tried to find a compromise solution with the owners of the land.

"We cleared the mass grave of garbage and redirected the sewage that used to turn it into a swamp," Khansa said.

However, efforts to create a memorial area where Palestinians can pay their respects to their lost families have yet to bear fruit.

"We want to turn the mass grave into a place fit for the martyrs who died there," Khansa added.

The vigil at the camp was attended by hundreds of Palestinians and Lebanese, in addition to an official Italian delegation comprised of members of parliament and representatives of Italian political parties.

Similar marches took place in Washington, DC, London, Palestine and other Arab states to commemorate the event and support the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland.

In the Christian neighbourhood of Ashrafieh in Beirut, however, there were calls for the release of the head of the outlawed Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea. Christian militiamen belonging to the Lebanese Forces, along with the Phalangists, were those who carried out the Sabra and Shatila massacres.

The annual march was characterised this year by the presence of the Italian delegation which formed a committee under the slogan: "So that we don't forget the Palestinian and Lebanese martyrs of Sabra and Shatila." Two days prior to the commemoration, the Italian delegation had visited to Shatila camp. Some had never been to a Palestinian refugee camp before.

Members of the delegation were shocked at the conditions in which the 20,000 Palestinian refugees in Shatila live.

Anna Skeyafouni, a member of the Cocis Network which groups 32

organisations from 70 different countries, described the camp as "hell."

"Maybe hell is even more tolerable. I am not surprised at all if all

children growing up here turn into terrorists. The camp is a shameful

presence for which the whole world is responsible," she commented.

During Saturday's march, children carried banners, waved flags and played bagpipes as they led the annual commemoration to the mass grave on the edge of the camps.

"I lost my whole family then. It left me with a hole so deep that I wish I was murdered with them," said Mohamed Abu Rodeina, who was only four when the massacre took place. At 22, his hair is already graying and his face sags with wrinkles. This was where, 18 years ago, decaying bodies bloated under the sun and thousands of empty cartridge cases lay in the streets. Rubble from bulldozed homes concealed dead bodies inside.

"We're more unified this year because we feel like Palestine is slipping through our fingers," said Sana Khaled Akkar, the wife of a victim of the massacre.

"It's a very critical time to show support and talk about our right to

return to our homeland," she said. "We want to show the world that we haven't forgotten our land. What future do our children have here in Lebanon?" The camps' residents were also encouraged by the Italian delegation's efforts to create a memorial for the massacre and lobby support in the Italian parliament for their right of return.

"We hope we can stand shoulder to shoulder with the Lebanese government to find a solution for the refugees," said Ali Faisal, spokesman for the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. "Without the right of return would have a very explosive situation."

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