The
Muslim/Palestinian Perspective
In the massacres in Sabra and Shatila, the Palestinians emerged as the victims of a hate-filled campaign by the Phalange militia to liquidate the camps of all life. In addition, they also found themselves at the mercy of the hostile Israeli forces who had surrounded the camps and allowed the Phalange to enter. The assumption that the Israelis had no idea that a massacre was taking place inside the camps by the Phalange and the idea that Israel did not know that the Phalange would become violent when Israel advocated this entry the day before, is angrily disputed by the Palestinians and the Muslim world in general. Particularly Ariel Sharon, who now holds the title of Prime Minister of Israel is accused by the Muslims of being a war-criminal whose involvement in the affair was monumental. The Palestinian perspective is the most represented side in terms of sources on the internet and in news-media, as sympathy for their suffering is easily found not only among the Muslims of the World, but also in many cases the Western Media. Below is a list of Websites whose opinions favor and illustrate the Muslim perspective, along with sample quotes exposing these often severe beliefs:
"[Israel's]
soldiers might have not participated in the actual killings,
but anybody who is familiar with the camps and their surroundings,
would have no doubt that they could see and hear the screams of
the men, women and children who were being executed. After all,
the blood orgy carried out by the scavengers of the right-wing
Phalangists lasted for two days, and the Israelis had established
posts on top of the buildings surrounding the camps."
From an
article entitled Never forget sabrah and shateelah, Never by Mussa
Al-Hindi on www.sabra-shatila.org
"Contrary
to a standard propaganda claim, reporters found "no heavy artillery or
well-fortified positions" in the Sabra, Shatilla and Bourj al-Barajneh
camps in Beirut, which had "taken a terrible pounding" since June 6
(actually, June 4), causing the flight of half of their 125,000 population in
the first few weeks of the war."4 The areas to which they
escaped, particularly the Fakhani quarter in Beirut, were also mercilessly
bombed. Since Palestinians are by definition all terrorists, or mothers of
terrorists, or future terrorists-so different from Begin, Shamir and Sharon for
example-whatever was done to them was regarded as legitimate."
This
excerpt from Noam Chomsky's Account the Sabra and Shatila Massacre and Israeli
Air Strikes on Beirut appears on http://www.infotrad.clara.co.uk/antiwar/fatefultri.html
"The
massacre was not a spontaneous act of vengeance for the murder of Bashir
Gemayel, but an operation planned in advance aimed at effecting a mass exodus
by the Palestinians from Beirut and other parts of Lebanon. Israel's
participation in prior massacres directed against Palestinian people creates a
most disturbing pattern of a political struggle carried on by means of mass
terror directed at the civilians, including women, children, and the
aged."
http://www.globalarabicworld.com/massacre/dr.html
"Israel claimed that the (IDF) did not
participate 'directly' in the horrible killings in the camps. Prim Minister
Begin even was quoted as saying: "Goyim kill goyim and the world blames
the Jews." Israeli officials, along with the Zionist media, did their best
in order to hide the horrible facts about the responsibility of Israel of what
happened in the camps."
http://www.ssnp.com/Holocaust/sabra1.htm
"[…] the massacres which took place at Sabra and
Shatila in September 1982 were genocidal massacres, and the term
'complicity in genocide' is wide enough to establish the responsibility of
Israel for these acts."
http://zog.to/3/palestine/sabra.htm