Laurie King-Irani commemorates another September massacre many seem to have forgotten.
“In the Palestinian refugee camps of Beirut, the 22nd anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila masssacre marks just another day of struggling along in substandard housing, coping with high unemployment, chronic poverty, poor health, an absence of adequate social services, bleak visions of the present, fears of the future, and searing memories of the past.”
“Those who survived the massacre remember 50 hours — September 16-18, 1982 — of terror and agony as Christian Phalange-affiliated militiamen infiltrated the camps under Israeli protection and with Israeli assistance, including the Israeli Defense Forces’ launching of night-time flares to expedite the carnage. The camp exits were sealed off by the IDF, so very few could escape, though many pleaded desperately with Israeli soldiers as the murderers systematically rounded up men, mutilated children in front of their parents, raped and disemboweled pregnant women and gunned down entire families, leaving alleyways full of blood.”