Framed:
America's
Patsy Tradition 
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Part 1: Massacres King David Hotel in Jerusalem (July 22, 1946) What happened: 91 people killed by explosives planted by the Irgun: 28 Britons, 41 Arabs, 17 Jews and five persons of other nationalities. Of the dead, 21 were British government officials, 13 were soldiers, and three were police officers. There were also 49 employees of either the hotel or the British government and five members of the public. The Bombing Of The King David Hotel (Islamic Association for Palestine) The Outrage (Britain's Small Wars, 1945-2001) For the Zionist perspective, see: Jewish Virtual Encyclopedia The Irgun Site Print Resources: Thurston Clarke, By Blood & Fire: The Attack on the King David Hotel, New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1981, pp 304. Menachem Begin, The Revolt: The Story of the Irgun, New York: Henry Schuman, Inc., 1951, pp. 212-230 gives Begin's perspective on the affair. At Tira (December 11, 1947) What happened: "5 Arabs killed and 6 injured at At Tira village in attack by Jews." Source: Wilson, Cordon & Search, p. 267 (table). Location: Unknown; At Tira is a common village name. The index to Morris, Birth, lists five. Alternate spellings: al-Tira Village outside Haifa (December 12, 1947) What happened: "12 Arabs lost their lives when Jews attacked a village outside Haifa." Source: Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 20 (citing The Times (London), December 13, 1947). Village near Tel Aviv (December 14, 1947) What happened: "Arab village near Tel-Aviv attacked by Jews in steel helmets wearing Khaki uniforms. 18 Arabs killed and 100 injured." Source: Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 21 (citing The Times (London), December 15, 1947). al-Khisas (December 18, 1947) What happened: 10 civilians killed by the Haganah, most within their own houses.
Location: Safad district Alternate spellings: Khisas, Khissas Khalidi reference: pp. 465-466 Haifa (December 30, 1947) What happened: "Two bombs thrown from passing vehicle by I.Z.L. or Stern members at crowd of Arab employees standing outside C.R.L. [Consolidated Refineries, Ltd.], Haifa. 6 Arabs killed and 42 wounded. Arabs inside and outside refinery reacted spontaneously and attacked Jewish employees who were outnumbered. 41 Jews killed and 48 injured." Source: Wilson, Cordon & Search, p. 268 (table). Other sources: Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 17 (citing Middle East Journal, April 1948, p. 216). The riot led the Haganah to raid the village of Balad Esh-Sheikh the next night [or that night?] (see below). Jerusalem (December 30, 1947) What happened: The Irgun threw a bomb from a speeding taxi in Jerusalem, killing 11 Arabs and two Britons. Source: Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 17 (citing Middle East Journal, April 1948, p. 216). Balad Esh-Sheikh (December 31-January 1 night, 1947) What happened: 14 (perhaps as many as 60) civilians killed by the Haganah, most within their own houses.
Location: Haifa district Alternate spellings: Balad es Sheik, Balad ash Sheikh Khalidi reference: pp. 151-154 The refinery riot was one of the few incidents during the 1947-1949 war in which Arabs killed a large number of Jews.
Jaffa (January 4, 1948) What happened: 15-30 people killed, 100 wounded, from a truck bomb planted by the Stern Gang in the middle of the city
Other Sources: "Stern Gang members bombed a crowded square in Jaffa, killing between 15 and 30 people and wounding 98." Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 17 (citing Middle East Journal, April 1948, p. 217). "Jews penetrate into Jaffa, blow up the headquarters of the Arab National Committee; heavy explosion also destroys police station, many shops and Barclay's Bank. Casualty list of 9 Arabs killed and 71 wounded probably incomplete. (Jews dressed as Arabs drove a lorry of orange crates and left it in front of the building.)" Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 19 (citing The Times (London), January 5, 1948). Semiramis Hotel in Jerusalem (January 4-5 night, 1948) What happened: 10-25 killed by the bombing of the hotel by Haganah.
Other Sources: "Haganah claimed responsibility for blowing up of the Semiramis Hotel. 20 people dead, among them the Spanish Consul. 'Haganah claims guests in the hotel must have been cooperating with Arab gangs.' Government inquiry later establishes the falsehood of the accusation." Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 19-20 (citing The Times (London), January 6, 1948). "Haganah blew up Semiramis Hotel in Jerusalem killing 12 Arabs and injuring 2." Wilson, Cordon & Search, p. 269 (table). Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem (January 7, 1948) What happened: "A Jewish driver used a British Army car to get past [an] Arab barricade at Jaffa Gate. The bomb he threw rolled on to a cafe near the gate. 17 Arabs dead so far." Source: Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 17 (citing The Times (London), Jan. 8, 1948). Unknown Location (January 16, 1948) What happened: "Jews today blew up 3 Arab buildings. In the first 8 children between the ages of 18 months and 12 years died, one child is still under the debris and one woman died. In the second, 5 Arabs died and 5 are still buried." Source: Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 20 (citing The Times (London), Jan. 17, 1948). Tireh (February 10, 1948) What happened: "12 Arabs returning to Tireh village near Tulkarm were stopped by a large party of Jews who fired at them. Some sought refuge in a house but were followed and fired at. 7 Arabs killed, 5 injured." Source: Who Are the Terrorists? (citing The Times (London), February 11, 1948). Bus from Safad (February 12, 1948) What happened: "Armed Jews attacked an Arab bus from Safad. Explosion in bus kills 5 Arabs and injures 5." Source: Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 19 (citing The Times (London), February 13, 1948). Sa'sa' (February 14-15 night, 1948) What happened: 60 civilians killed, most within their own houses.
Location: Safad district Alternate spellings: Sa'sa Khalidi reference: pp. 495-497 See also Jon Kimche and David Kimche, Both Sides of the Hill: Britain and the Palestine War, London: Secker & Warburg, 1960, p. 84. Sa'sa' was subjected to two massacres. The second one appears to have taken place on October 30. See the entry below, under that date, for information on the second massacre. Qisarya (February 15-20?, 1948) What happened: "Another case [of a massacre] happened in Caesarea. In February 1948 the Fourth Battalion of the Palmach forces, under the command of Josef Tabenkin, conquered Caesarea. According to Milstein, all those who did not escape from the village were killed. Milstein gleaned testimonies about this fact from fighters who participated in the conquest." Source: "Not Only Deir Yassin" (Guy Erlich, Ha'ir [Israeli newspaper], 6 May 1992) (quoting Israeli military historian Uri Milstein) Location: Haifa district Alternate spellings: Caesarea Khalidi reference: pp. 182-184 Additional sources: Morris, Birth, p. 54, recounts that Jewish militas conquered Qisarya on February 15 and expelled the remaining population on the 20th. As Milstein's account doesn't date the killings, I have given this time frame. Haifa (February 20, 1948) What happened: Jews attacked the Arab sections of Haifa with mortars, killing at least 6 Arabs and wounding 36. Source: Who Are the Terrorists? (citing Middle East Journal, April 1948, p. 220. Khantara-Haifa Train (February 27, 1948) What happened: "Khantara-Haifa train near Rehovoth by Jews. 27 British soldiers killed and 36 wounded." Source: Wilson, Cordon & Search, p. 271 (table). Haifa (March 3, 1948) What happened: "Stern Gang destroyed Salameh Building in Haifa with explosive vehicle. 11 Arabs killed, 27 wounded." Source: Wilson, Cordon & Search, p. 271 (table). Other sources: "The Stern Gang claimed responsibility for the detonation of an army truck in front of the Salam building in Haifa. Fourteen Arabs were killed and at least 26 wounded." Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 20 (citing Middle East Journal, July 1948, p. 329). al-Husayniyya (March 12 and 16-17, 1948) What happened: Palmach twice raided the village of al-Husayniyya, killing 15 and wounding 20 in the first attack on March 12, and killing "more than 30" in the second onslaught on the evening of March 16-17. Location: Safad district, 11 km. from town of Safad. Alternate spellings: Al Huseiniya, Kfar Husseinia Sources: 1. An article in the New York Times of March 14, 1948, cited in Khalidi, All that Remains, p. 456-457, describes the March 12 assault. 2. Morris, Birth, p. 157 cites Palmach reports for the following narrative: "In March, the Palamch's 3rd Battalion twice raided the village of Al Huseiniya, near the Hula Lake in Upper Galilee. In the first raid, on 12 March, the battalion blew up five houses. In the second raid, on 16-17 March, 'more than 30 Arab adults (excluding women and children) were killed ... The village was abandoned byall its inhabitants.'" 3. Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 22, cites Arthur Koestler, Promise and Fulfillment: Palestine 1917-1949, New York: Macmillan, 1949, p. 159, for the second attack. Train near Benjamina (March 31, 1948) What happened: "Jews blew up train near Benjamina killing 24 Arabs and injuring 61." Source: Wilson, Cordon & Search, p. 272 (table). al-Sarafand (April 5, 1948) What happened: "Jews attacked the Arab village of Sarafand. 16 Arabs were killed and 12 wounded. Most Arabs were killed when a house was mortared." Source: Who Are the Terrorists? (citing The Times (London), April 6, 1948). Location: Haifa district Alternate spellings: as Sarafand, Sarafand Khalidi reference: p. 188 Deir Yassin (April 9-11, 1948) 1. Websites Coming to Terms with Deir Yassin (PEACE Middle East Dialog Group) Dayr Yasin (Palestine Remembered) Deir Yassin: Arab & Jewish Tragedy in Palestine (1998 novel by Ray Hanania) Deir Yassin Committee (Yahoo! eGroup for descendants from Deir Yassin) Deir Yassin Remembered Open Directory: Deir Yassin Survivors' Testimonies (alnakba.org) 2. Articles "Jews May Not Want to Look at This" (Robert Fisk; The Independent; April 7, 2002) "The 1948 Massacre at Deir Yassin Revisited" (Matthew Hogan; Historian; Winter, 2001) "Deir Yasin: Still Remembered After 51 Years" (Pat and Samir Twair; Washington Report on Middle East Affairs; April/May 1999) "On the Fiftieth Anniversary of Deir Yassin: A Jewish Perspective on Memory, Justice and Reconciliation" (Marc H. Ellis; Ariga; April 1998) "Reinterpreting Deir Yassin" (Sharif Kanaana; Birzeit University; April, 1998) "Remembering Deir Yassin (James Zoghby; Al-Ahram Weekly; April 1998) "Deir Yassin Remembered" (Daniel A. McGowan; The Link; volume 29, issue 4 (September-October, 1996)) Print Resources: Daniel McGowan and Marc Ellis, Remembering Deir Yassin: The Future of Israel and Palestine, New York: Olive Branch Press, 1998 3. Zionist Denials "Deir Yassin" at Jewish Virtual Encyclopedia "Deir Yassin: History of a Lie" "Deir Yassin" at The Irgun Site Tel Litvinsky (April 16, 1948) What happened: "Jews attack the former British Army camp at Tel Litvinsky and kill 90 Arabs there." Source: Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 20 (citing The Times (London), April 17, 1948). Tiberias (April 19, 1948) What happened: "14 Arabs were killed in Tiberias in a house blown up by Jews." Source: Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 20 (citing The Times (London), April 20, 1948). Ayn al-Zaytun and perhaps other nearby villages (May 1-4, 1948) What happened: Apparently five separate killings of various magnitudes took place over three or four days: (1) Barrel bomb and grenade attacks by the Palmach killed and injured many of the villagers as the militia was attacking the village. (2) "Several" villagers in Ayn al-Zaytun were shot, and 37 young men were taken prisoner, when the Palmach conquered the village on May 1. (3) On May 3 or 4, "some 70" Arab prisoners, probably including these 37, were massacred with their hands still tied. (4) "23 Arabs" taken from Ayn al-Zaytun and shot. (5) 30 Arab prisoners who tried to escape were shot. "It is possible that they were killed chained. Next morning a platoon was sent to bury them." The source for the final two atrocities does not date them. Nazzal describes the attack on the village:
Massacres two and three are attested by Morris:
Netiva Ben-Yehuda recounted the slaughter in a book: Miba'ad La'avutot (Through the Binding Ropes), Jerusalem: Domino Press, 1985, pp. 243-248. According to Morris, "Ben-Yehuda graphically describes the prelude to, and aftermath of, the slaughter of the 70, which she did not witness." See also Nazzal, The Palestinian Exodus, p. 107, which states (without identifying his source) that "The Zionists separated the men from their families, beat and humiliated a few villagers, crucified one of the villagers on a tree, and took at random thirty-seven boys as hostages, who were never heard of again." The final two massacres are attested by Israeli military historian Uri Milstein:
Location: Safad district Alternate spellings: Ayn Zaytoon, Ein az Zeitun Khalidi reference: pp. 436-438 Abu Shuska (May 13-14 night?, 1948) What happened: "But Yitzhaki kept the testimonies. The first case he presents happened in Tel Gezer [i.e., Abu Shuska]. A soldier of the Kiryati Brigade (...) testifies that his colleagues got hold of ten Arab men and two Arab women, a young one and an old one. All the men were murdered. The young woman was raped and her destiny was unknown. The old woman was murdered. Yitzhaki tells that he discovered the testimony in a specific folder containing testimonies from Guard Units (Kheil Mishmar) in the IDF archives. Later he also obtained an oral testimony about this event from a person who wished to remain anonymous." Source:"Not Only Deir Yassin" (Guy Erlich, Ha'ir [Israeli newspaper], 6 May 1992) (quoting Israeli historian Aryeh Yitzhaki) Location: Haifa district Khalidi reference: pp. 142-143. Morris, Birth, p. 127, says that the Jewish assault on Abu Shuska began with a mortar attack on the night of May 13-14, but he doesn't mention the massacre, and the information provided by Aryeh Yitzhaki doesn't date the atrocity. Therefore, the date of the massacre is uncertain; I've tentatively used the May 13-14 date. al-Bassa (May 14?, 1948) What happened: Several killings of villagers were recounted by survivors.
Location: Acre district Alternate spellings: El Bassa Khalidi reference: pp. 6-8 Acre (May 18, 1948) What happened: After capturing Acre on May 18, Israeli troops killed at least 100 Arab civilians.
Possible caution: I have not seen this massacre noted anywhere except in Palumbo's work. While the timing is consistent with massacres in the same area, additional evidence would be useful. al-Kabri (May 20, 1948) What happened: Two groups of al-Kabri villagers killed; in one case, "several" youngsters were machine-gunned (some survived); in the other, the Israelis shot (and apparently killed) six refugees from the village whom they had seized trying to escape.
Location: Acre district Alternate spellings: Kabri Khalidi reference: pp. 19-20 Other sources: Morris, Birth, p. 125, states that al-Kabri was captured on May 20-21, and that "Al Kabri had long been a centre of anti-Yishuv forces. In early May, most of its inhabitants fled following a Haganah retaliatory action, in which a number of villagers were killed." al-Tantura (May 22-23, 1948) What happened: More than 200 villagers, mostly unarmed young men, shot by the Israeli army's Alexandroni Brigade. "The Tantura Massacre, 22-23 May 1948" (Journal of Palestine Studies; Vol XXX, No. 3 [Spring 2001; Issue 119]) "The Tantura Case in Israel: The Katz Research and Trial" (Ilan Pappe; Journal of Palestine Studies; Vol XXX, No. 3 [Spring 2001; Issue 119]) Tantura Massacre Exposed: 21 Eyewitness Testimonies of War Crimes against Humanity (PalestineRemembered.com) For Zionist denials, see: "History's Revenge" (Avi Davis; israelinsider; November 20, 2001) PalestineFacts.org Location: Haifa district Alternate spellings: Tantura Khalidi reference: pp. 193-195 Lydda (July 11-12, 1948) What happened: Several hundred civilians killed by Israeli troops, including 80 machine-gunned inside the Dahmash Mosque. If the following accounts are all true, there were several stages to the massacre at Lydda. Many died on the evening of July 11 during Moshe Dayan's famous lightening strike into the town. The town surrendered, and things were then quiet until just before noon the next day, when two or three Arab Legion armored cars rolled into town. Two (or perhaps as many as four) Israeli solders were killed, inciting a spasm of Israeli violence that killed 250 Arabs, including the (first?) massacre at the mosque. Finally, according to Guy Erlich's article, some 20-50 Arabs were slaughtered after cleaning up the mosque. Note that this account and Palumbo's assertion that the bodies of the first group killed at the mosque "lay decomposing for ten days in the July heat" cannot both be true. After all this, the inhabitants of Lydda and neighboring Ramle were expelled in the infamous "Lydda death march," as a result of which several hundred more probably died. See Chapter VIII, "The Lydda Death March" (pp. 126-138), in Palumbo, The Palestinian Catastrophe.
See also Morris, Birth, pp. 205-206, who writes that "In the confusion, dozens of unarmed detainees in the mosque and church compounds in the centre of the town were shot and killed." He also suggests that to call the events on July 12 a "revolt" is unwarranted. As is his tendency, Morris attempts to mitigate Israeli moral responsibility by asserting that the occupying Israeli solders "felt threatened, vulnerable and angry" during the July 12 phase of the massacre. |
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Part 1: Massacres King David Hotel in Jerusalem (July 22, 1946) What happened: 91 people killed by explosives planted by the Irgun: 28 Britons, 41 Arabs, 17 Jews and five persons of other nationalities. Of the dead, 21 were British government officials, 13 were soldiers, and three were police officers. There were also 49 employees of either the hotel or the British government and five members of the public. The Bombing Of The King David Hotel (Islamic Association for Palestine) The Outrage (Britain's Small Wars, 1945-2001) For the Zionist perspective, see: Jewish Virtual Encyclopedia The Irgun Site Print Resources: Thurston Clarke, By Blood & Fire: The Attack on the King David Hotel, New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1981, pp 304. Menachem Begin, The Revolt: The Story of the Irgun, New York: Henry Schuman, Inc., 1951, pp. 212-230 gives Begin's perspective on the affair. At Tira (December 11, 1947) What happened: "5 Arabs killed and 6 injured at At Tira village in attack by Jews." Source: Wilson, Cordon & Search, p. 267 (table). Location: Unknown; At Tira is a common village name. The index to Morris, Birth, lists five. Alternate spellings: al-Tira Village outside Haifa (December 12, 1947) What happened: "12 Arabs lost their lives when Jews attacked a village outside Haifa." Source: Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 20 (citing The Times (London), December 13, 1947). Village near Tel Aviv (December 14, 1947) What happened: "Arab village near Tel-Aviv attacked by Jews in steel helmets wearing Khaki uniforms. 18 Arabs killed and 100 injured." Source: Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 21 (citing The Times (London), December 15, 1947). al-Khisas (December 18, 1947) What happened: 10 civilians killed by the Haganah, most within their own houses.
Location: Safad district Alternate spellings: Khisas, Khissas Khalidi reference: pp. 465-466 Haifa (December 30, 1947) What happened: "Two bombs thrown from passing vehicle by I.Z.L. or Stern members at crowd of Arab employees standing outside C.R.L. [Consolidated Refineries, Ltd.], Haifa. 6 Arabs killed and 42 wounded. Arabs inside and outside refinery reacted spontaneously and attacked Jewish employees who were outnumbered. 41 Jews killed and 48 injured." Source: Wilson, Cordon & Search, p. 268 (table). Other sources: Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 17 (citing Middle East Journal, April 1948, p. 216). The riot led the Haganah to raid the village of Balad Esh-Sheikh the next night [or that night?] (see below). Jerusalem (December 30, 1947) What happened: The Irgun threw a bomb from a speeding taxi in Jerusalem, killing 11 Arabs and two Britons. Source: Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 17 (citing Middle East Journal, April 1948, p. 216). Balad Esh-Sheikh (December 31-January 1 night, 1947) What happened: 14 (perhaps as many as 60) civilians killed by the Haganah, most within their own houses.
Location: Haifa district Alternate spellings: Balad es Sheik, Balad ash Sheikh Khalidi reference: pp. 151-154 The refinery riot was one of the few incidents during the 1947-1949 war in which Arabs killed a large number of Jews.
Jaffa (January 4, 1948) What happened: 15-30 people killed, 100 wounded, from a truck bomb planted by the Stern Gang in the middle of the city
Other Sources: "Stern Gang members bombed a crowded square in Jaffa, killing between 15 and 30 people and wounding 98." Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 17 (citing Middle East Journal, April 1948, p. 217). "Jews penetrate into Jaffa, blow up the headquarters of the Arab National Committee; heavy explosion also destroys police station, many shops and Barclay's Bank. Casualty list of 9 Arabs killed and 71 wounded probably incomplete. (Jews dressed as Arabs drove a lorry of orange crates and left it in front of the building.)" Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 19 (citing The Times (London), January 5, 1948). Semiramis Hotel in Jerusalem (January 4-5 night, 1948) What happened: 10-25 killed by the bombing of the hotel by Haganah.
Other Sources: "Haganah claimed responsibility for blowing up of the Semiramis Hotel. 20 people dead, among them the Spanish Consul. 'Haganah claims guests in the hotel must have been cooperating with Arab gangs.' Government inquiry later establishes the falsehood of the accusation." Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 19-20 (citing The Times (London), January 6, 1948). "Haganah blew up Semiramis Hotel in Jerusalem killing 12 Arabs and injuring 2." Wilson, Cordon & Search, p. 269 (table). Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem (January 7, 1948) What happened: "A Jewish driver used a British Army car to get past [an] Arab barricade at Jaffa Gate. The bomb he threw rolled on to a cafe near the gate. 17 Arabs dead so far." Source: Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 17 (citing The Times (London), Jan. 8, 1948). Unknown Location (January 16, 1948) What happened: "Jews today blew up 3 Arab buildings. In the first 8 children between the ages of 18 months and 12 years died, one child is still under the debris and one woman died. In the second, 5 Arabs died and 5 are still buried." Source: Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 20 (citing The Times (London), Jan. 17, 1948). Tireh (February 10, 1948) What happened: "12 Arabs returning to Tireh village near Tulkarm were stopped by a large party of Jews who fired at them. Some sought refuge in a house but were followed and fired at. 7 Arabs killed, 5 injured." Source: Who Are the Terrorists? (citing The Times (London), February 11, 1948). Bus from Safad (February 12, 1948) What happened: "Armed Jews attacked an Arab bus from Safad. Explosion in bus kills 5 Arabs and injures 5." Source: Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 19 (citing The Times (London), February 13, 1948). Sa'sa' (February 14-15 night, 1948) What happened: 60 civilians killed, most within their own houses.
Location: Safad district Alternate spellings: Sa'sa Khalidi reference: pp. 495-497 See also Jon Kimche and David Kimche, Both Sides of the Hill: Britain and the Palestine War, London: Secker & Warburg, 1960, p. 84. Sa'sa' was subjected to two massacres. The second one appears to have taken place on October 30. See the entry below, under that date, for information on the second massacre. Qisarya (February 15-20?, 1948) What happened: "Another case [of a massacre] happened in Caesarea. In February 1948 the Fourth Battalion of the Palmach forces, under the command of Josef Tabenkin, conquered Caesarea. According to Milstein, all those who did not escape from the village were killed. Milstein gleaned testimonies about this fact from fighters who participated in the conquest." Source: "Not Only Deir Yassin" (Guy Erlich, Ha'ir [Israeli newspaper], 6 May 1992) (quoting Israeli military historian Uri Milstein) Location: Haifa district Alternate spellings: Caesarea Khalidi reference: pp. 182-184 Additional sources: Morris, Birth, p. 54, recounts that Jewish militas conquered Qisarya on February 15 and expelled the remaining population on the 20th. As Milstein's account doesn't date the killings, I have given this time frame. Haifa (February 20, 1948) What happened: Jews attacked the Arab sections of Haifa with mortars, killing at least 6 Arabs and wounding 36. Source: Who Are the Terrorists? (citing Middle East Journal, April 1948, p. 220. Khantara-Haifa Train (February 27, 1948) What happened: "Khantara-Haifa train near Rehovoth by Jews. 27 British soldiers killed and 36 wounded." Source: Wilson, Cordon & Search, p. 271 (table). Haifa (March 3, 1948) What happened: "Stern Gang destroyed Salameh Building in Haifa with explosive vehicle. 11 Arabs killed, 27 wounded." Source: Wilson, Cordon & Search, p. 271 (table). Other sources: "The Stern Gang claimed responsibility for the detonation of an army truck in front of the Salam building in Haifa. Fourteen Arabs were killed and at least 26 wounded." Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 20 (citing Middle East Journal, July 1948, p. 329). al-Husayniyya (March 12 and 16-17, 1948) What happened: Palmach twice raided the village of al-Husayniyya, killing 15 and wounding 20 in the first attack on March 12, and killing "more than 30" in the second onslaught on the evening of March 16-17. Location: Safad district, 11 km. from town of Safad. Alternate spellings: Al Huseiniya, Kfar Husseinia Sources: 1. An article in the New York Times of March 14, 1948, cited in Khalidi, All that Remains, p. 456-457, describes the March 12 assault. 2. Morris, Birth, p. 157 cites Palmach reports for the following narrative: "In March, the Palamch's 3rd Battalion twice raided the village of Al Huseiniya, near the Hula Lake in Upper Galilee. In the first raid, on 12 March, the battalion blew up five houses. In the second raid, on 16-17 March, 'more than 30 Arab adults (excluding women and children) were killed ... The village was abandoned byall its inhabitants.'" 3. Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 22, cites Arthur Koestler, Promise and Fulfillment: Palestine 1917-1949, New York: Macmillan, 1949, p. 159, for the second attack. Train near Benjamina (March 31, 1948) What happened: "Jews blew up train near Benjamina killing 24 Arabs and injuring 61." Source: Wilson, Cordon & Search, p. 272 (table). al-Sarafand (April 5, 1948) What happened: "Jews attacked the Arab village of Sarafand. 16 Arabs were killed and 12 wounded. Most Arabs were killed when a house was mortared." Source: Who Are the Terrorists? (citing The Times (London), April 6, 1948). Location: Haifa district Alternate spellings: as Sarafand, Sarafand Khalidi reference: p. 188 Deir Yassin (April 9-11, 1948) 1. Websites Coming to Terms with Deir Yassin (PEACE Middle East Dialog Group) Dayr Yasin (Palestine Remembered) Deir Yassin: Arab & Jewish Tragedy in Palestine (1998 novel by Ray Hanania) Deir Yassin Committee (Yahoo! eGroup for descendants from Deir Yassin) Deir Yassin Remembered Open Directory: Deir Yassin Survivors' Testimonies (alnakba.org) 2. Articles "Jews May Not Want to Look at This" (Robert Fisk; The Independent; April 7, 2002) "The 1948 Massacre at Deir Yassin Revisited" (Matthew Hogan; Historian; Winter, 2001) "Deir Yasin: Still Remembered After 51 Years" (Pat and Samir Twair; Washington Report on Middle East Affairs; April/May 1999) "On the Fiftieth Anniversary of Deir Yassin: A Jewish Perspective on Memory, Justice and Reconciliation" (Marc H. Ellis; Ariga; April 1998) "Reinterpreting Deir Yassin" (Sharif Kanaana; Birzeit University; April, 1998) "Remembering Deir Yassin (James Zoghby; Al-Ahram Weekly; April 1998) "Deir Yassin Remembered" (Daniel A. McGowan; The Link; volume 29, issue 4 (September-October, 1996)) Print Resources: Daniel McGowan and Marc Ellis, Remembering Deir Yassin: The Future of Israel and Palestine, New York: Olive Branch Press, 1998 3. Zionist Denials "Deir Yassin" at Jewish Virtual Encyclopedia "Deir Yassin: History of a Lie" "Deir Yassin" at The Irgun Site Tel Litvinsky (April 16, 1948) What happened: "Jews attack the former British Army camp at Tel Litvinsky and kill 90 Arabs there." Source: Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 20 (citing The Times (London), April 17, 1948). Tiberias (April 19, 1948) What happened: "14 Arabs were killed in Tiberias in a house blown up by Jews." Source: Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 20 (citing The Times (London), April 20, 1948). Ayn al-Zaytun and perhaps other nearby villages (May 1-4, 1948) What happened: Apparently five separate killings of various magnitudes took place over three or four days: (1) Barrel bomb and grenade attacks by the Palmach killed and injured many of the villagers as the militia was attacking the village. (2) "Several" villagers in Ayn al-Zaytun were shot, and 37 young men were taken prisoner, when the Palmach conquered the village on May 1. (3) On May 3 or 4, "some 70" Arab prisoners, probably including these 37, were massacred with their hands still tied. (4) "23 Arabs" taken from Ayn al-Zaytun and shot. (5) 30 Arab prisoners who tried to escape were shot. "It is possible that they were killed chained. Next morning a platoon was sent to bury them." The source for the final two atrocities does not date them. Nazzal describes the attack on the village:
Massacres two and three are attested by Morris:
Netiva Ben-Yehuda recounted the slaughter in a book: Miba'ad La'avutot (Through the Binding Ropes), Jerusalem: Domino Press, 1985, pp. 243-248. According to Morris, "Ben-Yehuda graphically describes the prelude to, and aftermath of, the slaughter of the 70, which she did not witness." See also Nazzal, The Palestinian Exodus, p. 107, which states (without identifying his source) that "The Zionists separated the men from their families, beat and humiliated a few villagers, crucified one of the villagers on a tree, and took at random thirty-seven boys as hostages, who were never heard of again." The final two massacres are attested by Israeli military historian Uri Milstein:
Location: Safad district Alternate spellings: Ayn Zaytoon, Ein az Zeitun Khalidi reference: pp. 436-438 Abu Shuska (May 13-14 night?, 1948) What happened: "But Yitzhaki kept the testimonies. The first case he presents happened in Tel Gezer [i.e., Abu Shuska]. A soldier of the Kiryati Brigade (...) testifies that his colleagues got hold of ten Arab men and two Arab women, a young one and an old one. All the men were murdered. The young woman was raped and her destiny was unknown. The old woman was murdered. Yitzhaki tells that he discovered the testimony in a specific folder containing testimonies from Guard Units (Kheil Mishmar) in the IDF archives. Later he also obtained an oral testimony about this event from a person who wished to remain anonymous." Source:"Not Only Deir Yassin" (Guy Erlich, Ha'ir [Israeli newspaper], 6 May 1992) (quoting Israeli historian Aryeh Yitzhaki) Location: Haifa district Khalidi reference: pp. 142-143. Morris, Birth, p. 127, says that the Jewish assault on Abu Shuska began with a mortar attack on the night of May 13-14, but he doesn't mention the massacre, and the information provided by Aryeh Yitzhaki doesn't date the atrocity. Therefore, the date of the massacre is uncertain; I've tentatively used the May 13-14 date. al-Bassa (May 14?, 1948) What happened: Several killings of villagers were recounted by survivors.
Location: Acre district Alternate spellings: El Bassa Khalidi reference: pp. 6-8 Acre (May 18, 1948) What happened: After capturing Acre on May 18, Israeli troops killed at least 100 Arab civilians.
Possible caution: I have not seen this massacre noted anywhere except in Palumbo's work. While the timing is consistent with massacres in the same area, additional evidence would be useful. al-Kabri (May 20, 1948) What happened: Two groups of al-Kabri villagers killed; in one case, "several" youngsters were machine-gunned (some survived); in the other, the Israelis shot (and apparently killed) six refugees from the village whom they had seized trying to escape.
Location: Acre district Alternate spellings: Kabri Khalidi reference: pp. 19-20 Other sources: Morris, Birth, p. 125, states that al-Kabri was captured on May 20-21, and that "Al Kabri had long been a centre of anti-Yishuv forces. In early May, most of its inhabitants fled following a Haganah retaliatory action, in which a number of villagers were killed." al-Tantura (May 22-23, 1948) What happened: More than 200 villagers, mostly unarmed young men, shot by the Israeli army's Alexandroni Brigade. "The Tantura Massacre, 22-23 May 1948" (Journal of Palestine Studies; Vol XXX, No. 3 [Spring 2001; Issue 119]) "The Tantura Case in Israel: The Katz Research and Trial" (Ilan Pappe; Journal of Palestine Studies; Vol XXX, No. 3 [Spring 2001; Issue 119]) Tantura Massacre Exposed: 21 Eyewitness Testimonies of War Crimes against Humanity (PalestineRemembered.com) For Zionist denials, see: "History's Revenge" (Avi Davis; israelinsider; November 20, 2001) PalestineFacts.org Location: Haifa district Alternate spellings: Tantura Khalidi reference: pp. 193-195 Lydda (July 11-12, 1948) What happened: Several hundred civilians killed by Israeli troops, including 80 machine-gunned inside the Dahmash Mosque. If the following accounts are all true, there were several stages to the massacre at Lydda. Many died on the evening of July 11 during Moshe Dayan's famous lightening strike into the town. The town surrendered, and things were then quiet until just before noon the next day, when two or three Arab Legion armored cars rolled into town. Two (or perhaps as many as four) Israeli solders were killed, inciting a spasm of Israeli violence that killed 250 Arabs, including the (first?) massacre at the mosque. Finally, according to Guy Erlich's article, some 20-50 Arabs were slaughtered after cleaning up the mosque. Note that this account and Palumbo's assertion that the bodies of the first group killed at the mosque "lay decomposing for ten days in the July heat" cannot both be true. After all this, the inhabitants of Lydda and neighboring Ramle were expelled in the infamous "Lydda death march," as a result of which several hundred more probably died. See Chapter VIII, "The Lydda Death March" (pp. 126-138), in Palumbo, The Palestinian Catastrophe.
See also Morris, Birth, pp. 205-206, who writes that "In the confusion, dozens of unarmed detainees in the mosque and church compounds in the centre of the town were shot and killed." He also suggests that to call the events on July 12 a "revolt" is unwarranted. As is his tendency, Morris attempts to mitigate Israeli moral responsibility by asserting that the occupying Israeli solders "felt threatened, vulnerable and angry" during the July 12 phase of the massacre. |
| Elot (end of July, 1948) What happened: "At the end of July 1948, after conducting a search in the village of Elot near Nazareth, the Israeli army arrested forty-six young men and took them away. On August 3 several of these men were found dead in the hills near the village. On the same day fourteen of those arrested were killed in an olive grove, in full view of the villagers." Source: Sabri Jiryis, The Arabs in Israel, New York: Monthly Review Press, 1976, p. 154. Location: Nazareth district Khalidi reference: None. Arab Suqrir (August 29, 1948) What happened: 10 villagers "who tried to escape" killed by Israeli army. Location: Gaza district Alternate spellings: Arab Abu Suwayrib, Khirbet Sukreir Khalidi reference: pp. 80-81
|
Part 1: Massacres
King David Hotel in Jerusalem (July 22, 1946)
What happened: 91 people killed by explosives planted by
the Irgun: 28 Britons, 41 Arabs, 17 Jews and five persons of other
nationalities. Of the dead, 21 were British government officials, 13 were
soldiers, and three were police officers. There were also 49 employees of either
the hotel or the British government and five members of the public.
The Bombing Of The
King David Hotel (Islamic Association for Palestine)
The Outrage (Britain's Small Wars, 1945-2001)
For the
Zionist perspective, see:
Jewish Virtual Encyclopedia
The Irgun
Site
Print Resources:
Thurston
Clarke, By Blood & Fire: The Attack on the King David Hotel, New York: G.P.
Putnam's Sons, 1981, pp 304.
Menachem Begin, The Revolt: The Story of
the Irgun, New York: Henry Schuman, Inc., 1951, pp. 212-230 gives Begin's
perspective on the affair.
At Tira
(December 11, 1947)
What happened: "5
Arabs killed and 6 injured at At Tira village in attack by Jews."
Source: Wilson, Cordon & Search, p. 267
(table).
Location: Unknown; At Tira is a
common village name. The index to Morris, Birth, lists five.
Alternate spellings: al-Tira
Village outside Haifa (December 12, 1947)
What happened: "12 Arabs lost their lives when Jews
attacked a village outside Haifa."
Source: Who
Are the Terrorists?, p. 20 (citing The Times (London), December 13,
1947).
Village near Tel Aviv (December 14,
1947)
What happened: "Arab village near
Tel-Aviv attacked by Jews in steel helmets wearing Khaki uniforms. 18 Arabs
killed and 100 injured."
Source: Who Are the
Terrorists?, p. 21 (citing The Times (London), December 15,
1947).
al-Khisas (December 18, 1947)
What happened: 10 civilians killed by the Haganah, most
within their own houses.
| "On 18th December [1947] there was trouble in the Huleh
Valley when Jews entered the Arab village of Khissas, near the Syrian frontier,
and killed 10 and wounded 5 Arabs, most of whom were women and children, with
grenades and machine-gun fire. They withdrew without suffering any casualties
after leaving pamphlets stating that the attack was carried out by the Haganah
as a reprisal for casualties suffered in Safad, and an incident near Khissas
where a Jew had recently been killed by Arabs. The latter event had been in turn
a reprisal for the shooting of an Arab by a Jewish Settlement policeman. So the
system of one life for another, and often ten lives for another, was fostered.
The attack on Khissas, in which 2 Lebanese and 2 Syrian visitors had been
killed, resulted in the first hostile invasion of Arab irregulars over the
frontier from Syria." Source: Wilson, Cordon and Search, p. 159. |
Location: Safad district
Alternate spellings: Khisas, Khissas
Khalidi reference: pp. 465-466
Haifa (December 30, 1947)
What happened: "Two bombs thrown from passing vehicle by I.Z.L. or Stern members at crowd of Arab employees standing outside C.R.L. [Consolidated Refineries, Ltd.], Haifa. 6 Arabs killed and 42 wounded. Arabs inside and outside refinery reacted spontaneously and attacked Jewish employees who were outnumbered. 41 Jews killed and 48 injured."
Source: Wilson, Cordon & Search, p. 268 (table).
Other sources:
Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 17 (citing Middle East Journal, April 1948, p. 216).
The riot led the Haganah to raid the village of Balad Esh-Sheikh the next night [or that night?] (see below).
Jerusalem (December 30, 1947)
What happened: The Irgun threw a bomb from a speeding taxi in Jerusalem, killing 11 Arabs and two Britons.
Source: Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 17 (citing Middle East Journal, April 1948, p. 216).
Balad Esh-Sheikh (December 31-January 1 night, 1947)
What happened: 14 (perhaps as many as 60) civilians killed by the Haganah, most within their own houses.
| "The following night [i.e., following the riot at the
Haifa refinery] the Arab village of Balad es Sheik, which lies three miles
southeast of Haifa, was attacked by a strong party of armed Haganah, who entered
the village dressed as Arabs under heavy covering fire from the high ground.
Firing sub-machine guns and throwing grenades into the houses, they succeeded in
killing 14 Arabs, of whom 10 were women and children, and wounding 11. Their own
casualties were slight." Source: Wilson, Cordon and Search, p. 158. |
Location: Haifa district
Alternate spellings: Balad es Sheik, Balad ash Sheikh
Khalidi reference: pp. 151-154
The refinery riot was one of the few incidents during the 1947-1949 war in which Arabs killed a large number of Jews.
| "In the evening of January 30-31, 1947 a mixed force of
the First Battalion of Palmach and the 'Carmel' Brigade under the command of
Haim Avinoam attacked the village of Balad al-Shaikh (now Tel Hanan). In this
operation more than sixty of the enemy, most of them noncombatants, were killed
in their houses." Source: An article by Israeli historian Arieh Vitzhaqi in the April 14, 1972, issue of the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot, translated in "From the Hebrew Press," Journal of Palestine Studies, vol. 1, no. 4 (summer 1972), p. 144. Also quoted in Hadawi, Bitter Harvest, p. 88. "In the evening of December 30-31 a mixed force of the First Battalion of the Palmach and the 'Carmel Brigade' under the command of Haim Avinoam attacked the village of Balad al-Shaikh; in this operation more than sixty of the enemy were killed in their houses.... The attacking units entered the village and started operating inside the houses and because of the heavy firing in the rooms, it was impossible to avoid hitting women and children also." Source: Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 21 (translating from Ha Sefer Ha-Palmach [The Book of the Palmach], Tel Aviv: Ha-Kibbutz Ha-Meuchad, 1955, p. 55). |
Jaffa (January 4, 1948)
What happened: 15-30 people killed, 100 wounded, from a truck bomb planted by the Stern Gang in the middle of the city
| "One Sunday in January [1948] a large truck loaded with
oranges parked in the centre of Jaffa between Barclays bank and a government
office Building. The truck was driven by two Stern Gang terrorists. They had
failed on a previous attempt to enter Jaffa, when Arab sentries guarding access
to the city had become suspicious and opened fire on the truck, Now on their
second try, they had penetrated into the heart of the city with a truck that
contained more than just oranges. Disguised as Arabs, the experienced terrorists walked away from the vehicle, stopping for coffee at a nearby restaurant before leaving Jaffa. Soon after, an explosion demolished many buildings in the centre of the city. According to a Jaffa resident, Basil Ennab, one of the buildings destroyed was 'sort of a feeding centre for children,'[2] many of whom were among the over 100 casualties." [2] Middle East Centre, Saint Anthony's College (Oxford, UK), Thames Interviews, box II, file 1. Source: Palumbo, pp. 83-84. See generally Chapter V, "The Fall of Jaffa," pp. 82-94. |
Other Sources:
"Stern Gang members bombed a crowded square in Jaffa, killing between 15 and 30 people and wounding 98." Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 17 (citing Middle East Journal, April 1948, p. 217).
"Jews penetrate into Jaffa, blow up the headquarters of the Arab National Committee; heavy explosion also destroys police station, many shops and Barclay's Bank. Casualty list of 9 Arabs killed and 71 wounded probably incomplete. (Jews dressed as Arabs drove a lorry of orange crates and left it in front of the building.)" Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 19 (citing The Times (London), January 5, 1948).
Semiramis Hotel in Jerusalem (January 4-5 night, 1948)
What happened: 10-25 killed by the bombing of the hotel by Haganah.
| "The Katamon district in West Jerusalem was another area
from which the local inhabitants were driven out by the Haganah. Populated by
mainly Christian Arabs with some Muslim and British residents, Katamon took its
name from an Orthodox monastery situated on a hill which dominated the district.
According to Sami Haddawi, a long-time resident of Katamon, the section was
regarded as a 'strategic area' which the Jewish forces needed if they were to
secure their hold over West Jerusalem. On the night of 3-4 January, the Haganah
made its move. The target was the Semiramis Hotel, one of the well-known landmarks of the district. The hotel was only two blocks away from Sami Haddawi's home so that he clearly recalls the huge explosion when the Semiramis was dynamited by the Zionists. A total of twenty-six people were killed, including a Spanish diplomat and numerous women and children. The Haganah claimed that the hotel had been 'used as a base for marauding Arab gangs and headquarters of the Arab military youth organization.' But the British administration, which still exercised at least nominal control, investigated the incident and found that the Jewish charge that the Semiramis was a military headquarters was 'entirely without foundation.' The British report called the bombing 'wholesale murder of innocent people.'[10]" [10] Central Zionist Archives (Jerusalem) S25/4013. Source: Palumbo, p. 98. Note that the date given for the bombing appears to be wrong, as most sources place the blast on the night of January 4/5. |
Other Sources:
"Haganah claimed responsibility for blowing up of the Semiramis Hotel. 20 people dead, among them the Spanish Consul. 'Haganah claims guests in the hotel must have been cooperating with Arab gangs.' Government inquiry later establishes the falsehood of the accusation." Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 19-20 (citing The Times (London), January 6, 1948).
"Haganah blew up Semiramis Hotel in Jerusalem killing 12 Arabs and injuring 2." Wilson, Cordon & Search, p. 269 (table).
Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem (January 7, 1948)
What happened: "A Jewish driver used a British Army car to get past [an] Arab barricade at Jaffa Gate. The bomb he threw rolled on to a cafe near the gate. 17 Arabs dead so far."
Source: Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 17 (citing The Times (London), Jan. 8, 1948).
Unknown Location (January 16, 1948)
What happened: "Jews today blew up 3 Arab buildings. In the first 8 children between the ages of 18 months and 12 years died, one child is still under the debris and one woman died. In the second, 5 Arabs died and 5 are still buried."
Source: Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 20 (citing The Times (London), Jan. 17, 1948).
Tireh (February 10, 1948)
What happened: "12 Arabs returning to Tireh village near Tulkarm were stopped by a large party of Jews who fired at them. Some sought refuge in a house but were followed and fired at. 7 Arabs killed, 5 injured."
Source: Who Are the Terrorists? (citing The Times (London), February 11, 1948).
Bus from Safad (February 12, 1948)
What happened: "Armed Jews attacked an Arab bus from Safad. Explosion in bus kills 5 Arabs and injures 5."
Source: Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 19 (citing The Times (London), February 13, 1948).
Sa'sa' (February 14-15 night, 1948)
What happened: 60 civilians killed, most within their own houses.
|
"In this operation, which was for many years to be
regarded as a model raid because of the high standard of its execution, twenty
houses were blown up over their inhabitants, and some sixty Arabs were killed,
most of them women and children." |
Location: Safad district
Alternate spellings: Sa'sa
Khalidi reference: pp. 495-497
See also Jon Kimche
and David Kimche, Both Sides of the Hill: Britain and the Palestine War, London:
Secker & Warburg, 1960, p. 84.
Sa'sa' was subjected to two massacres.
The second one appears to have taken place on October 30. See the entry below,
under that date, for information on the second massacre.
Qisarya (February 15-20?, 1948)
What happened: "Another case [of a massacre] happened in
Caesarea. In February 1948 the Fourth Battalion of the Palmach forces, under the
command of Josef Tabenkin, conquered Caesarea. According to Milstein, all those
who did not escape from the village were killed. Milstein gleaned testimonies
about this fact from fighters who participated in the conquest."
Source: "Not Only Deir
Yassin" (Guy Erlich, Ha'ir [Israeli newspaper], 6 May 1992) (quoting Israeli
military historian Uri Milstein)
Location:
Haifa district
Alternate spellings:
Caesarea
Khalidi reference: pp.
182-184
Additional sources:
Morris,
Birth, p. 54, recounts that Jewish militas conquered Qisarya on February 15 and
expelled the remaining population on the 20th. As Milstein's account doesn't
date the killings, I have given this time frame.
Haifa (February 20, 1948)
What
happened: Jews attacked the Arab sections of Haifa with mortars, killing
at least 6 Arabs and wounding 36.
Source: Who
Are the Terrorists? (citing Middle East Journal, April 1948, p.
220.
Khantara-Haifa Train (February 27,
1948)
What happened: "Khantara-Haifa
train near Rehovoth by Jews. 27 British soldiers killed and 36
wounded."
Source: Wilson, Cordon & Search,
p. 271 (table).
Haifa (March 3,
1948)
What happened: "Stern Gang
destroyed Salameh Building in Haifa with explosive vehicle. 11 Arabs killed, 27
wounded."
Source: Wilson, Cordon & Search,
p. 271 (table).
Other sources:
"The
Stern Gang claimed responsibility for the detonation of an army truck in front
of the Salam building in Haifa. Fourteen Arabs were killed and at least 26
wounded." Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 20 (citing Middle East Journal, July 1948,
p. 329).
al-Husayniyya (March 12 and
16-17, 1948)
What happened: Palmach
twice raided the village of al-Husayniyya, killing 15 and wounding 20 in the
first attack on March 12, and killing "more than 30" in the second onslaught on
the evening of March 16-17.
Location: Safad
district, 11 km. from town of Safad.
Alternate
spellings: Al Huseiniya, Kfar Husseinia
Sources:
1. An article in the New York Times of
March 14, 1948, cited in Khalidi, All that Remains, p. 456-457, describes the
March 12 assault.
2. Morris, Birth, p. 157 cites Palmach reports for the
following narrative: "In March, the Palamch's 3rd Battalion twice raided the
village of Al Huseiniya, near the Hula Lake in Upper Galilee. In the first raid,
on 12 March, the battalion blew up five houses. In the second raid, on 16-17
March, 'more than 30 Arab adults (excluding women and children) were killed ...
The village was abandoned byall its inhabitants.'"
3. Who Are the
Terrorists?, p. 22, cites Arthur Koestler, Promise and Fulfillment: Palestine
1917-1949, New York: Macmillan, 1949, p. 159, for the second
attack.
Train near Benjamina (March 31,
1948)
What happened: "Jews blew up
train near Benjamina killing 24 Arabs and injuring 61."
Source: Wilson, Cordon & Search, p. 272
(table).
al-Sarafand (April 5,
1948)
What happened: "Jews attacked the
Arab village of Sarafand. 16 Arabs were killed and 12 wounded. Most Arabs were
killed when a house was mortared."
Source: Who
Are the Terrorists? (citing The Times (London), April 6, 1948).
Location: Haifa district
Alternate spellings: as Sarafand, Sarafand
Khalidi reference: p. 188
Deir Yassin (April 9-11, 1948)
1.
Websites
Coming to Terms with Deir Yassin (PEACE Middle East Dialog
Group)
Dayr Yasin (Palestine Remembered)
Deir Yassin: Arab &
Jewish Tragedy in Palestine (1998 novel by Ray Hanania)
Deir Yassin
Committee (Yahoo! eGroup for descendants from Deir
Yassin)
Deir
Yassin Remembered
Open Directory: Deir Yassin
Survivors'
Testimonies (alnakba.org)
2. Articles
"Jews
May Not Want to Look at This" (Robert Fisk; The Independent; April 7, 2002)
"The 1948 Massacre at Deir Yassin Revisited" (Matthew Hogan;
Historian; Winter, 2001)
"Deir Yasin: Still Remembered After 51 Years" (Pat and Samir
Twair; Washington Report on Middle East Affairs; April/May 1999)
"On the Fiftieth
Anniversary of Deir Yassin: A Jewish Perspective on Memory, Justice and
Reconciliation" (Marc H. Ellis; Ariga; April 1998)
"Reinterpreting Deir Yassin" (Sharif Kanaana; Birzeit University;
April, 1998)
"Remembering Deir Yassin (James Zoghby; Al-Ahram Weekly; April
1998)
"Deir Yassin Remembered" (Daniel A. McGowan; The Link; volume 29,
issue 4 (September-October, 1996))
Print
Resources:
Daniel McGowan and Marc Ellis, Remembering Deir Yassin:
The Future of Israel and Palestine, New York: Olive Branch Press,
1998
3. Zionist Denials
"Deir Yassin" at Jewish Virtual Encyclopedia
"Deir Yassin:
History of a Lie"
"Deir Yassin" at The Irgun Site
Tel Litvinsky (April 16, 1948)
What
happened: "Jews attack the former British Army camp at Tel Litvinsky and
kill 90 Arabs there."
Source: Who Are the
Terrorists?, p. 20 (citing The Times (London), April 17,
1948).
Tiberias (April 19,
1948)
What happened: "14 Arabs were
killed in Tiberias in a house blown up by Jews."
Source: Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 20 (citing The Times
(London), April 20, 1948).
Ayn al-Zaytun
and perhaps other nearby villages (May 1-4, 1948)
What happened: Apparently five separate killings of various
magnitudes took place over three or four days: (1) Barrel bomb and grenade
attacks by the Palmach killed and injured many of the villagers as the militia
was attacking the village. (2) "Several" villagers in Ayn al-Zaytun were shot,
and 37 young men were taken prisoner, when the Palmach conquered the village on
May 1. (3) On May 3 or 4, "some 70" Arab prisoners, probably including these 37,
were massacred with their hands still tied. (4) "23 Arabs" taken from Ayn
al-Zaytun and shot. (5) 30 Arab prisoners who tried to escape were shot. "It is
possible that they were killed chained. Next morning a platoon was sent to bury
them." The source for the final two atrocities does not date
them.
Nazzal describes the attack on the
village:
| "During the night of May 1, 1948, a Palmach unit, with
mules loaded with ammunition, advanced towards the village of Ein ez Zeitun by
way of Tall al Durraiyat, which overlooks the village to the north. From the top
of the hill, Palmach soldiers rolled barrels filled with explosives down the
hill to the village and threw hand grenades, killing and injuring many of the
villagers." Source: Nazzal, The Palestinian Exodus, pp. 34-35. |
Massacres two and three are attested by Morris:
| After the Palmach took Ayn al-Zaytun on May 1, "several
villagers apparently were shot by the Palmach troops." [from note 133 on page
321] "Some 37 of the young men caught in the village were detained. They were
probably among the 70 or so Arab prisoners massacred by two Palmach 3rd
Battalion soldiers, on Battalion OC Moshe Kelman's orders, on 3 or 4 May in the
gully between Ein az Zeitun and Safad." [from page 102] "Kelman's company commanders all refused to carry out the massacre or to allow their men to carry it out. The battalion OC in the end had to use two 'broken' men, who did not belong to the fighting formations and who claimed that they had suffered at Arab hands earlier in the war, to do the killing. Afterwards, Kelman assigned Ben-Yehuda [Netiva Ben-Yehuda--see below] to untie the hands of the dead as a Red Cross visit to the area was expected." [from note 133 on page 321] Source: Morris, Birth, p. 102 and note 133 on p. 321. |
Netiva Ben-Yehuda recounted the slaughter in a book: Miba'ad La'avutot (Through the Binding Ropes), Jerusalem: Domino Press, 1985, pp. 243-248. According to Morris, "Ben-Yehuda graphically describes the prelude to, and aftermath of, the slaughter of the 70, which she did not witness."
See also Nazzal, The Palestinian Exodus, p. 107, which states (without identifying his source) that "The Zionists separated the men from their families, beat and humiliated a few villagers, crucified one of the villagers on a tree, and took at random thirty-seven boys as hostages, who were never heard of again."
The final two massacres are attested by Israeli military historian Uri Milstein:
| "The historian Uri Milstein presented in his book series
'The History of the War of Independence' a number of massacres. Three more cases
came to his knowledge after he finished writing. One case happened in Ayn
Zaytoon. According to Milstein two massacres happened there in addition to the
case described by Netiva Ben Yehuda in her book 'Within the Bounds' (mibe'ad
la'avutot). Milstein possesses a testimony from a soldier named Aharon Yo'eli:
'Three men from Safad came to Ayn Zaytoon, they took 23 Arabs, told them they
were murderers and gangsters, took from them their watches and put them in their
pockets, led them over the hills and killed them. This was the revenge of the
Jews of Safad. I understood that our commanders were looking for additional
killers to execute such jobs. Not everybody in Safad was a Hassid [strictly
observing Jew]. In my opinion this was not the execution of prisoners but the
killing of Arab murderers. The rest were expelled in the direction of the Germak
that same evening and to make them go fast, we shot at them.' The second case
was reported to Milstein by a soldier named Yitzhak Golan, as he referred to
thirty prisoners who were brought to interrogation in Har Kna'an: 'The men of
the Intelligence Unit interrogated them and after the interrogation the question
came up what to do with them. We were told to take them down to the Rosh Pina
police station. On the way they attempted to escape so we shot at them. There
was no alternative. The danger was that they might reach Safad and would tell
there how few weapons and manpower we had. It is possible that they were killed
chained. Next morning a platoon was sent to bury them.'" Source: "Not Only Deir Yassin" (Guy Erlich, Ha'ir [Israeli newspaper], 6 May 1992). |
Location: Safad district
Alternate spellings: Ayn Zaytoon, Ein az Zeitun
Khalidi reference: pp. 436-438
Abu Shuska (May 13-14 night?, 1948)
What happened: "But Yitzhaki kept the testimonies. The first case he presents happened in Tel Gezer [i.e., Abu Shuska]. A soldier of the Kiryati Brigade (...) testifies that his colleagues got hold of ten Arab men and two Arab women, a young one and an old one. All the men were murdered. The young woman was raped and her destiny was unknown. The old woman was murdered. Yitzhaki tells that he discovered the testimony in a specific folder containing testimonies from Guard Units (Kheil Mishmar) in the IDF archives. Later he also obtained an oral testimony about this event from a person who wished to remain anonymous."
Source:"Not Only Deir Yassin" (Guy Erlich, Ha'ir [Israeli newspaper], 6 May 1992) (quoting Israeli historian Aryeh Yitzhaki)
Location: Haifa district
Khalidi reference: pp. 142-143.
Morris, Birth, p. 127, says that the Jewish assault on Abu Shuska began with a mortar attack on the night of May 13-14, but he doesn't mention the massacre, and the information provided by Aryeh Yitzhaki doesn't date the atrocity. Therefore, the date of the massacre is uncertain; I've tentatively used the May 13-14 date.
al-Bassa (May 14?, 1948)
What happened: Several killings of villagers were recounted by survivors.
| "Mahmud Hassan Dukhi returned two days after the village
had fallen to bring back his mother, who had insisted on staying, only to find
her burnt body at his home. Hussain As'ad Khalil, who also returned,
reported: '... I saw the bodies of Abdullah Isma'il Muhammad, Ahmad Muhammad Khalil, and Ali Hussain Ali, who had been killed by Jewish soldiers as they tried to infiltrate into the village. ...' Hussain As'ad Khalil's uncle and his wife, who stayed on after the fall of El Bassa ... described the Jewish occupation of the village: "The day the village fell, Jewish soldiers ordered all those who remained in the village to gather in the church. Simultaneously, they took a few young people--including Salim Darwish and his sister, Illin -- outside the church and shot them dead. Soon after, they ordered us to bury them." Source: Nazzal, The Palestinian Exodus, p. 58 (who adds that Hussain As'ad Khalil's uncle and his wife, who asked that their names not be used, gave him the names of five people killed in the process of occupation) |
Location: Acre district
Alternate spellings: El Bassa
Khalidi reference: pp. 6-8
Acre (May 18, 1948)
What happened: After capturing Acre on May 18, Israeli troops killed at least 100 Arab civilians.
| "Several months after the Israeli capture of Acre,
Lieutenant Petite, a United Nations observer from France, visited Acre to
investigate Arab charges that those Palestinians who remained under Israeli rule
were being mistreated. ... Lieutenant Petite noted that the Jews had murdered at least 100 Arab civilians in Acre. In particular the Israelis killed many residents of the new city who refused to move into the portion of the old city that was being used as an Arab ghetto. The Israelis considered the new city totally off-limits to Arabs. The case of Mohammed Fayez Soufi was typical. He was forced to leave his home in the new part of town and was relocated in the portion of the old city of Acre that had not been demolished. When Mohammed and four of his friends went back to their former homes in the new city to get food, they were stopped by a gang of Israeli soldiers who put a pistol to each of their heads and forced them to drink cyanide. Mohammed faked swallowing the poison but his friends were not so lucky. After half an hour, three of the Arabs died and were tossed in the sea by the Israelis. Several days later, their bodies were washed up on the shore." Source: Palumbo, Palestinian Catastrophe, p. 119, relying on Petite's reports, stored at United Nations Archives 13/3.3.1, box 13. |
Possible caution: I have not seen this massacre noted anywhere except in Palumbo's work. While the timing is consistent with massacres in the same area, additional evidence would be useful.
al-Kabri (May 20, 1948)
What happened: Two groups of al-Kabri villagers killed; in one case, "several" youngsters were machine-gunned (some survived); in the other, the Israelis shot (and apparently killed) six refugees from the village whom they had seized trying to escape.
| "On 20 May 1948 the Karmeli Brigade conquered the
village Kabri. Dov Yirmiya, who was a company commander in the 21th battalion,
tells: 'Kabri was conquered without a fight. Almost all inhabitants fled. One of
the soldiers, Yehuda Reshef, who was together with his brother among the few
rescapees from the Yehi'am convoy, got hold of a few youngsters who did not
escape, probably seven, ordered them to fill up some ditches dug as an obstacle
and then lined them up and fired at them with a machine gun. A few died but some
of the wounded succeeded to escape. The battalion commander did not react.
Receive was a brave fighter and as a rescapee from the Yehi'am convoy, enjoyed
special status in the battalion. He advanced later to the grade of Brigadier
General. He justified his action as an act of revenge.' 'When the action ended, we left, namely the battalion commander Dov Tschitchiss, Education Officer Tzadok Eshel, the driver and myself. We drove over fields to Nahariya. While driving we saw refugees escaping to the North. The battalion commander ordered the driver to stop and went with the driver and the Education Officer to chase an Arab who was escaping with a girl eight or nine years old. I heard shots and had scarcely the time to understand what happened. When they returned, the battalion commander declared: We killed them. I asked: The girl too? And he answered to me: No, no, we did not kill the girl.'" Source: "Not Only Deir Yassin" (Guy Erlich, Ha'ir [Israeli newspaper], 6 May 1992) "My husband and I left Kabri the day before it fell. ... At dawn [the next day], while my husband was preparing for his morning prayer, our friend Raja passed us and urged us to proceed, saying that we should run. ... It was not too long before we were met by the Jews. ... They took us and a few other villagers (...) in an armoured car back to the village. There a Jewish officer interrogated us and, putting a gun to my husband's neck, he said "You are from Kabri?" .... The Jews took away my husband, Ibrahim Dabajah, Hussain Hassan al-Khubaizah, Khalil al-Tamlawi, Uthman Iban As'ad Mahmud, and Raja. They left the rest of us.... An officer came to me and asked me not to cry. We slept in the village orchards that night. The next morning, Umm Hussain and I went to the village. ... I saw Umm Taha on the way to the village courtyard. She cried and said "You had better go see your dead husband." I found him. He was shot in the back of the head." Source: Nazzal, Palestinian Exodus, p. 61-62 (quoting Aminah Muhammad Musa, interviewed at Burj al-Barajnih Camp, Beirut, Lebanon, February 24, 1973). |
Location: Acre district
Alternate spellings: Kabri
Khalidi reference: pp. 19-20
Other sources: Morris, Birth, p. 125, states that al-Kabri was captured on May 20-21, and that "Al Kabri had long been a centre of anti-Yishuv forces. In early May, most of its inhabitants fled following a Haganah retaliatory action, in which a number of villagers were killed."
al-Tantura (May 22-23, 1948)
What happened: More than 200 villagers, mostly unarmed young men, shot by the Israeli army's Alexandroni Brigade.
"The Tantura Massacre, 22-23 May 1948" (Journal of Palestine Studies; Vol XXX, No. 3 [Spring 2001; Issue 119])
"The Tantura Case in Israel: The Katz Research and Trial" (Ilan Pappe; Journal of Palestine Studies; Vol XXX, No. 3 [Spring 2001; Issue 119])
Tantura Massacre Exposed: 21 Eyewitness Testimonies of War Crimes against Humanity (PalestineRemembered.com)
For Zionist denials, see:
"History's Revenge" (Avi Davis; israelinsider; November 20, 2001)
PalestineFacts.org
Location: Haifa district
Alternate spellings: Tantura
Khalidi reference: pp. 193-195
| Lydda (July 11-12, 1948) What happened: Several hundred civilians killed by Israeli troops, including 80 machine-gunned inside the Dahmash Mosque. If the following accounts are all true, there were several stages to the massacre at Lydda. Many died on the evening of July 11 during Moshe Dayan's famous lightening strike into the town. The town surrendered, and things were then quiet until just before noon the next day, when two or three Arab Legion armored cars rolled into town. Two (or perhaps as many as four) Israeli solders were killed, inciting a spasm of Israeli violence that killed 250 Arabs, including the (first?) massacre at the mosque. Finally, according to Guy Erlich's article, some 20-50 Arabs were slaughtered after cleaning up the mosque. Note that this account and Palumbo's assertion that the bodies of the first group killed at the mosque "lay decomposing for ten days in the July heat" cannot both be true. After all this, the inhabitants of Lydda and neighboring Ramle were expelled in the infamous "Lydda death march," as a result of which several hundred more probably died. See Chapter VIII, "The Lydda Death March" (pp. 126-138), in Palumbo, The Palestinian Catastrophe.
See also Morris, Birth, pp. 205-206, who writes that "In the confusion, dozens of unarmed detainees in the mosque and church compounds in the centre of the town were shot and killed." He also suggests that to call the events on July 12 a "revolt" is unwarranted. As is his tendency, Morris attempts to mitigate Israeli moral responsibility by asserting that the occupying Israeli solders "felt threatened, vulnerable and angry" during the July 12 phase of the massacre. |
What happened: "At the end of July 1948, after conducting a search in the village of Elot near Nazareth, the Israeli army arrested forty-six young men and took them away. On August 3 several of these men were found dead in the hills near the village. On the same day fourteen of those arrested were killed in an olive grove, in full view of the villagers."
Source: Sabri Jiryis, The Arabs in Israel, New York: Monthly Review Press, 1976, p. 154.
Location: Nazareth district
Khalidi reference: None.
Arab Suqrir (August 29, 1948)
What happened: 10 villagers "who tried to escape" killed by Israeli army.
Location: Gaza district
Alternate spellings: Arab Abu Suwayrib, Khirbet Sukreir
Khalidi reference: pp. 80-81
| "Another case happened in Ashdod [the name of an Israeli
settlement where Arab Suqrir used to stand]. Towards the end of August 1948, the
Giv'ati Brigade executed the 'Cleansing Campaign' (Mivtza Nikayon) in Ashdod's
dunes. This happened after the forced landing of an Israeli plane in the area
and the killing of his eight passengers by locals. A company of mounted cavalry,
jeeps and Giv'ati fighters went to comb the area. In the course of this action,
and according to a conservative estimate, ten farmers ('fellahin') were
murdered. Yitzahki says that evidence about that can be found in the campaign
chronicle of Giv'ati in the IDF archives and in the second chapter of the book
on the Giv'ati Brigade." Source: "Not Only Deir Yassin" (Guy Erlich, Ha'ir [Israeli newspaper], 6 May 1992) (quoting Israeli military historian Aryeh Yitzhaki). |
See also Morris, Birth, p. 215, quoting a Givati intelligence officer as explaining, on 29 August, that "ten Arabs who tried to escape were killed."
See also
Morris, Birth, p. 215, quoting a Givati intelligence officer as explaining, on
29 August, that "ten Arabs who tried to escape were killed."
Hula, Lebanon (sometime during October 24-29,
1948)
What happened: 50 villagers
machine-gunned to death by Israeli army.
| "During the 'Hiram' operation (October 24-29, 1948),
which cleared away the remains of Qawuqji's army from the Galilee, company 22
from the 'Carmeli' brigade, where I had served as an officer, conquered the
village Hula, which is located [inside Lebanon] 3 km. west of the Kibbutz
Manara. ... I received a report that there had been no resistance in the village, that there was no enemy activity in the area, and that about a hundred people were left in the village. They had surrendered and requested to stay. The men among them were kept in one house under guard. I was brought there and saw about 35 men. [Yirmiya does not remember the exact number today, and there were in fact over 50 men there] in the age range 15-60, including one Lebanese soldier in uniform.... When I returned to the village the following morning with an order to send the villagers away, I found out that, while I was away, two of the troops' officers had killed all of the captives who were in the house with a sub-machine gun, and had then blown up the house on top of them to be their grave. The women and children were sent west. When I asked him why he had done this, the officer answered that this was 'his revenge for the murder of his best friends in the [Haifa] refineries." Source: Article from Mapam newspaper Al Hamishmar by R. Barkan, title not given, quoting a letter from eyewitness Dov Yirmiya, translated in the Journal of Palestine Studies, vol. VII, no. 4 (summer 1978), number 28, pp. 143-145. Hadawi, Bitter Harvest, p. 89, discusses this massacre, and Morris, Birth, p. 350, note 37, states without amplification that 34 villagers were murdered by the IDF in the Lebanese village "Hule" (this is apparently a typo, as he uses "Hula" in other places). The article reveals what happened after the war: The officer described in Yirmiya's letter was Shmuel Lahis. Although he was later convicted of the murders in a military court, he received (via an appeal) only a one-year sentence, and, due to an amnesty that he received, didn't even serve that long in jail. Subsequently, he became a lawyer and was admitted to the Israeli bar upon a finding that his conduct "was not an act which carried with it a stigma." He later became Secretary General of the Jewish Agency. |
al-Dawayima (October 29, 1948)
What happened: 100-200 villagers killed by Israeli army.
| "Ben-Gurion, quoting General Avner, briefly referred in
his war diary to the 'rumours' that the army had 'slaughtered 70-80 persons.'
What happened was described a few days later by an Israeli soldier-witness to a
Mapam member, who transmitted the information to Eliezer Pra'i, the editor of
the party daily Al Hamishmar and a member of the party's Central Committee. The
party member, S. (possibly Shabtai) Kaplan, described the witness as 'one of our
people, an intellectual, 100 percent reliable.' The village, wrote Kaplan, had
been held by Arab 'irregulars' and was captured by the 89th Battalion (8th
Brigade) without a fight. 'The first [wave] of conquerors killed about 80 to 100
[male] Arabs, women, and children. The children they killed by breaking their
heads with sticks. There was not a house without dead,' wrote Kaplan. Kaplan's
informant, who arrived immediately afterwards in the second wave, reported that
Arab men and women who remained were then closed off in their houses 'without
food or water.' Sappers arrived to blow up the houses. 'One commander ordered a
sapper to put two old women in a certain house ... and to blow up the house with
them. The sapper refused ... The commander then ordered his men to put in the
old women and the evil deed was done. One soldier boasted that he had raped a
woman and then shot her. One woman, with a newborn baby in her arms, was
employed to clean the courtyard where the soldiers ate. She worked a day or two.
In the end they shot her and her baby.' The soldier-witness, according to
Kaplan, said that 'cultured officers ... had turned into base murderers and this
not in the heat of battle ... but out of a system of expulsion and destruction.
The less Arabs remained--the better. This principle is the political motor for
the expulsions and the atrocities.'" Source: Morris, Birth, pp. 222-223. The letter from Kaplan to Pra'i is dated November 8, 1948, and found in Kibbutz Meuhad Archives, Aharon Zisling Papers, 6/6/4. David Gilmour, Dispossessed: The Ordeal of the Palestinians 1917-1980, London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1980, pp. 68-69, quotes much of this same letter. His citation is: Letters of 8 November 1948. Quoted in Eyal Kafkafi, "A Ghetto Attitude in the Jewish State," Davar [Israeli newspaper], September 6, 1979. Simha Flapan, The Birth of Israel: Myths and Realities, New York: Pantheon, 1987, p. 94, says that the Dawayma massacre was "revealed by the Israeli journalist Yoela Har-Shefi in 1984." Flapan's citation is: Nimrod, Al-Hamishmar, April 10, 1985. "Another publicized massacre of which the author [Hadawi is speaking of himself] personally became aware in 1951 in the course of his official duties with the Jordan government occurred in the village of Ed-Dawayimeh, in the Hebron Sub-District. There, about 200 persons--mostly aged inhabitants who could not run away--took refuge in the village mosque, and when the Israelis entered the village, they massacred the entire crowd. Many of the reports that the author inspected at the police station in Hebron gave the ages of the victims as between 70 and 90 years. ..." Source: Hadawi, Bitter Harvest, p. 89. |
Location: Hebron district
Alternate spellings: (also spelled al-Dawayma, Duwayma, Ed-Dawayimeh)
Khalidi reference: pp. 213-216
Jish (October 29?, 1948)
What happened: "A woman and her baby were killed. Another 11 [were killed?]"
Source: Morris, Birth, p. 230, citing Aharon Cohen's handwritten notes from a November 11 briefing, by Moshe Erem, to the Political Committee of Mapam, stored in Hashomer Hatzair Archives, Aharon Cohen Papers, 10.95.10(6). In this reference in Birth, Morris describes the briefing as having been given by Israel Galili, head of the Haganah National Command, but he later corrects this statement. See Benny Morris, "Revisiting the Palestinian Exodus of 1948," in Eugene Rogan and Avi Shlaim (eds.), The War for Palestine: Rewriting the History of 1948, Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2001, p. 59, note 24.
Morris doesn't date the killings in Jish, which Israeli troops conquered during Operation Hiram, a 60-hour operation that took place from October 29-31. Abu-Sitta, The Palestinian Nakba, gives a date of October 29 for the massacre (although that could represent the date Jish was captured).
Location: Safad district
Khalidi reference: none
Eilabun (October 30, 1948)
What happened: 13 villagers--at least 12 of them "youngsters"--killed by Israeli soldiers after they had taken the village.
| "The villagers hung out white flags and the Israeli
troops entering the village were welcomed by four priests. The inhabitants
huddled inside the churches while the priests formally surrendered the village.
But the Israelis discovered in a house the severed heads of two missing IDF
soldiers. What happened next is described in a letter from the village elders to
Shitrit [Bechor Shitrit, Israel's Minority Affairs Minister]: the villagers were
ordered to assemble in the village square. While assembling, one villager was
killed and another wounded by IDF fire. Then the commander selected 12 youngsters and sent them to another place, then he ordered that the assembled inhabitants be led to Maghar .... He himself stayed on with another two soldiers until they killed the 12 youngsters in the streets of the village and then they joined the army going to Maghar...." Source: Morris, Birth, p. 229, citing Israel State Archives, Foreign Ministry Papers 2564/10. "On the square in front of [Greek Catholic priest] Father Markos' house, the Jewish commander yelled, 'You want to make war, here you have it!' as his men mowed down four young men with machine guns. Three other youths including a boy of seventeen were taken to a nearby field where they were killed in a similar manner. In all, thirteen young men were murdered in the early morning hours. The American [United Nations] officer, Captain Zeuty reported, 'There is no doubt in this observer's mind that the Jews committed murder and plunder.'" Source: Palumbo, Palestinian Catastrophe, p. 164, citing United Nations Archives 13/3.3.1, box 11, document entitled "Atrocities September-November." The book reproduces on p. 165 a sketch by Captain Zeuty of the village showing where the victims were killed and where they were buried. |
Majd al-Kurum (October 30, 1948)
What happened: In one account, the Israelis picked 12 men from the village at random and killed them in front of the other villagers. In another account, nine villagers, including two women, were killed.
| "During the morning of October 30, a few villagers
decided to carry white flags and meet the Jews west of the village. They were to
tell the Jewish soldiers that the villagers had gotten rid of the ALA [Arab
Liberation Army] and that the village was safe and prepared to surrender. We
were surprised when suddenly another Jewish force approached the village from
the east. The Jews joined up at the village and soon after ordered us to
assemble at Ain Majd el Kurum in the center of the village. Jewish soldiers
picked twelve of our men at random, blindfolded them, and shot them in front of
us." Source: Nafez Nazzal, The Palestinian Exodus from Galilee 1948, Beirut: The Institute for Palestine Studies, 1978, p. 92, reporting the account of eyewitness Umm Abid al-Qiblawi, interviewed at Shatila refugee camp in Beirut, Lebanon, on February 1, 1973. The story of Israel's takeover of Majd al-Kurum is on pp. 90-93. On page 228, Morris, Birth, notes this report but takes no position on its validity. |
See also Palumbo, The Palestinian Catastrophe, pp. 171-172, who states that the Israelis killed nine people, including two women, at Majd al-Kurum. He quotes A. Pallemans, a Belgian U.N. officer, as reporting "there is no doubt about these murders." Palumbo cites United Nations Archives 13/3.3.1, box 11, document entitled "Atrocities September-November."
Safsaf (October 30, 1948)
What happened: According to a Palestinian eyewitness, 70 young men were blindfolded and shot to death, one after another, by Israeli troops in front of the assembled villagers. The Israeli army report acknowledges 14 deaths.
| "At about sunrise, the Israelis entered the village.
There they ordered the villagers to line up around Isma'il Nassir Za'mut's and
Ahmad Muhammad Shuraidah's houses, to the north. Umm Shahadah al-Salih, among
those present, recalled that tragic morning: 'As we lined up, a few Jewish soldiers ordered four girls to accompany them to carry water for the soldiers. Instead, they took them to our empty houses and raped them. About 70 of our men were blindfolded and shot to death, one after the other, in front of us. The soldiers took their bodies and threw them on the cement covering of the village's spring and dumped sand on them....'" Source: Nafez Nazzal, The Palestinian Exodus from Galilee 1948, Beirut: The Institute for Palestine Studies, 1978, p. 95, reporting the account of eyewitness Umm Shahadah al-Salih, interviewed (along with two other eyewitnesses) at Ain al-Hilwah refugee camp in Sidon, Lebanon, on March 23-24, 1973. The story of Israel's takeover of Safsaf is on pp. 93-96. Morris, Birth, in note 37 on page 350, says that Nazzal's account "in the main tallies with" the military's report that Morris quotes. (That report is quoted just below.) "In his briefing of 11 November to the Political Committee of Mapam, Galili [Israel Galili, head of the Haganah National Command] detailed some of the atrocities committed in the October fighting. He spoke of '52 men [in Safsaf] tied with a rope and dropped into a well and shot. 10 were killed. Women pleaded for mercy. [There were] three cases of rape.... A girl aged 14 was raped. Another 4 were killed.'" Source: Morris, Birth, p. 230, citing Aharon Cohen's handwritten notes from this meeting, stored in Hashomer Hatzair Archives, Aharon Cohen Papers, 10.95.10(6). Later, Morris said that the briefing had been delivered by Moshe Erem rather than Galili. See Benny Morris, "Revisiting the Palestinian Exodus of 1948," in Eugene Rogan and Avi Shlaim (eds.), The War for Palestine: Rewriting the History of 1948, Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2001, p. 59, note 24. |
Location: Safad district
Khalidi reference: pp. 490-491.
Saliha (October 30?, 1948)
What happened: "94 ... were blown up with a house."
Source: Morris, Birth, p. 230, citing Aharon Cohen's handwritten notes from a November 11 briefing, by Moshe Erem, to the Political Committee of Mapam, stored in Hashomer Hatzair Archives, Aharon Cohen Papers, 10.95.10(6). In this reference in Birth, Morris describes the briefing as having been given by Israel Galili, head of the Haganah National Command, but he later corrects this statement. See Benny Morris, "Revisiting the Palestinian Exodus of 1948," in Eugene Rogan and Avi Shlaim (eds.), The War for Palestine: Rewriting the History of 1948, Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2001, p. 59, note 24.
Morris doesn't date the killings in Saliha, which Israeli troops conquered during Operation Hiram, a 60-hour operation that took place from October 29-31. Abu-Sitta, The Palestinian Nakba, gives a date of October 30 for the massacre (although that could represent the date Saliha was captured).
Location: Safad district
Khalidi reference: pp. 491-492.
Sa'sa' (October 30?, 1948)
What happened: "There were cases of 'mass murder [though] a thousand [?] lifted white flags and a sacrifice was offered [to welcome] the army. The whole village was expelled.'"
Source: Morris, Birth, p. 230, citing Aharon Cohen's handwritten notes from a November 11 briefing, by Moshe Erem, to the Political Committee of Mapam, stored in Hashomer Hatzair Archives, Aharon Cohen Papers, 10.95.10(6). In this reference in Birth, Morris describes the briefing as having been given by Israel Galili, head of the Haganah National Command, but he later corrects this statement. See Benny Morris, "Revisiting the Palestinian Exodus of 1948," in Eugene Rogan and Avi Shlaim (eds.), The War for Palestine: Rewriting the History of 1948, Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2001, p. 59, note 24.
Morris doesn't date the killings in Sa'sa', which Israeli troops conquered during Operation Hiram, a 60-hour operation that took place from October 29-31. Abu-Sitta, The Palestinian Nakba, gives a date of October 30 for the massacre (although that could represent the date Sa'sa' was captured).
Location: Safad district
Alternate spellings: Sa'sa
Khalidi reference: pp. 495-497
Sa'sa' was subjected to two massacres. The earlier one took place on the evening of February 14-15. See the entry above, under that date, for information on the first massacre.
al-Bi'na and Deir al-Assad (October 31, 1948)
What happened: An unknown number killed by Israeli soldiers.
| "On Sunday, 31 October at 10 a.m., the Israeli forces
entered al-Bi'na and Deir al-Assad. The Jews gathered the entire population in a field between the two towns and demanded that they turn over their weapons. About 100 rifles were given to the Israelis. By afternoon the children and elderly became exhausted and were in need of water. Some of the Arab men asked if they could get water from a nearby well. Everyone thought that the young men would bring back water for their families and friends but the Israelis had other plans: 'They killed them with automatic rifle fire near the well,' testified Hassan Muhidun Askbar. After investigating his charges, UN observers described the murders as 'wanton slaying without provocation.'" Source: Palumbo, The Palestinian Catastrophe, p. 168, citing United Nations Archives 13/3.3.1, box 11, document entitled "Atrocities September-November." |
See also Morris, Birth, p. 229-230, in which a refugee from al-Bi'na is quoted as saying that Israeli troops shot two villagers. In Benny Morris, "Revisiting the Palestinian Exodus of 1948," in Eugene Rogan and Avi Shlaim (eds.), The War for Palestine: Rewriting the History of 1948, Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2001, p. 54, Morris includes Deir al-Assad (which he spells Dayr al-Assad) in a list of villages at which massacres took place, but as there's no index entry in Birth for this village, I can't readily determine whether he mentions this massacre in that earlier book.
Nahf (end of October, 1948?)
What happened: Apparent massacre.
Source: Benny Morris, "Revisiting the Palestinian Exodus of 1948," in Eugene Rogan and Avi Shlaim (eds.), The War for Palestine: Rewriting the History of 1948, Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2001, p. 54. Morris includes Nahf in a list of villages at which massacres took place. However, he provides no additional information, and his earlier book Birth has no index entry for Nahf.
Khirbat al-Wa'ra al-Sawda (November 2, 1948)
What happened: 14 "liquidated," according to the Israeli military's report.
| "The men set fire to the Arabs' houses and returned to
base [i.e., Maghar] with 19 Arab adult males. At the base the men [captives]
were sorted out and those who took part in hostile actions against our army were
identified, and they were sent under command of Haim [Hayun] to a place that had
been determined and there 14 of the adult males were liquidated."
Source: Benny Morris, "Revisiting the Palestinian Exodus of 1948," in Eugene Rogan and Avi Shlaim (eds.), The War for Palestine: Rewriting the History of 1948, Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 2001, p. 57. |
Location: Tiberias district
Alternate spellings: Khirbet al-Wa'ra as-Sauda, Arab al Mawasi (predecessor village)
Khalidi reference: pp. 545-546
Beit Jala, West Bank (January 6, 1952)
What happened: Israeli forces attacked Beit Jala, a village in the West Bank, killing 7 unarmed civilians (one man, two women, and four children) and another woman's unborn child.
| "The morning after the raid, Commandant Bouvet and I
were called out and told to rush to the scene at Beit Jalla. As we drove up to
the pile of rubble that had once been a two-story, cut-stone house, we could
hear the sing-song wail of the Arab women who were gathered around the victims."
(p. 12) "The upper floor of the house had been completely destroyed by a demolition charge. The lower part, built into the side of the hill, was still partly intact but the walls and doors were scarred by the bullets that had raked the area. A twenty-three-year-old Arab and his wife had died in the blast, There was little left for burial." (p. 13) "A few hundred yards to the East, another house had been attacked. ...[The husband told what had happened during the attack.] The wife, who was eight-months pregnant, moved cautiously to follow his orders [to leave the house]. She had taken only a few steps from the back door when the Israelis, who were firing from behind a stone wall, turned their fire in her direction. The bullet that passed through her body from the back snuffed out the life she was carrying, but her own life was miraculously spared." (p. 13) "The third target of the Israeli raiders was a house about one-mile away--very near the tomb of Rachael. ... On entering this room we were brought up short--no person could live long enough to become calloused to such a sight. The mother and her four children, ranging in age from 6 to 14, were sprawled about the room--their bodies riddled by bullets and grenade fragments." (p. 14) Source: E. H. Hutchison, Violent Truce: A Military Observer Looks At the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1951-1955, New York: Devin-Adair Company, 1956, pp. 12-14. While explicitly anti-Zionist, Hutchison was a U.S. naval officer who from 1951-1954 served on the Israel-Jordan Mixed Armistice Commission established by the U.N. (and chaired it for much of that time), and in this book he related his personal observations and official U.S. reports. "Rose-colored leaflets were left by the Israelis who carried out the attack in Beit Jalla on the 6th of January 1952. Translated: On 4 December 1951, persons from Beit Jalla killed a young Jewess near Beit Vaghan after committing towards her a crime that will never be expiated. What we have done here now is recompense for this horrendous crime--we can never remain silent when it comes to criminals. There will always be arrows in our quivers for the likes of these. Let those who would know, (know) BEWARE" Source: Hutchison, p. 15, which has this caption under a copy of the leaflet left by the Israelis. |
Jerusalem (April 22, 1953)
What happened: "Israeli forces fire at unarmed civilians in open space in front of the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem. Ten killed."
Source: Who Are the Terrorists?, p. 34 (citing E. H. Hutchison, Violent Truce: A Military Observer Looks At the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1951-1955, New York: Devin-Adair Company, 1956, p. 155).
Caution: While the Hutchinson book does state that 10 Arab civilians were killed, it doesn't report the circumstances of the deaths. I am continuing to investigate.
Bureji Refugee Camp, Gaza Strip (August 28, 1953)
What happened: "One of the latest and gravest incidents has been the attack upon several houses and huts in the Arab refugee camp of Bureij on the night of 28 August. That camp, organized and administered by UNRWA, is situated about 2 kilometers west of the demarcation line. Bombs were thrown through the windows of huts in which refugees were sleeping and, as they fled, they were attacked by small arms and automatic weapons. The casualties were 20 killed, 27 seriously wounded, 35 less seriously wounded. The Mixed Armistice Commission, in an emergency meeting, adopted by a majority vote a resolution according to which the attack was made by a group of armed Israelis. A likely explanation is that is was a ruthless reprisal raid."
Source: E. H. Hutchison, Violent Truce: A Military Observer Looks At the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1951-1955, New York: Devin-Adair Company, 1956, p. 168. While explicitly anti-Zionist, Hutchison was a U.S. naval officer who from 1951-1954 served on the Israel-Jordan Mixed Armistice Commission established by the U.N. (and chaired it for much of that time), and in this book he related his personal observations and official U.S. reports.
Qibya, Jordan (October 14-15 night, 1953)
What happened: The Israeli army's now-infamous Unit 101, led by Ariel Sharon, killed about 70 civilians in a raid on this village.
| The Arab Legion investigated and determined that the
Israelis had moved from house to house "systematically killing" the residents
before blowing up their homes. (p. 261) This account, Morris says, is
corroborated by Israel Defense Forces post-operational reports, which describe
breaking into most of the houses and "clearing them" with fire and grenades. (p.
262) Source: Benny Morris, Israel's Border Wars, 1949-1956, Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 1993. The Qibya massacre is extensively discussed on pp. 257-276. "That night, less than ten hours later, a large force of regular Israeli soldiers attacked the village of Qibya. We rushed to the scene early the next morning and found that 53 men, women and children had been killed and 15 wounded. It is difficult to describe the wanton destruction that had taken place. One sight that burned deep into my mind was that of an old woman perched high on a pile of rubble. Here and there from between the rocks you could see a tiny hand or foot protruding. The woman's state was blank--void of any sign of sensibility. She was sitting on the pile of rocks that held the lifeless bodies of her six children. The bullet riddled body of her husband lay face down in the dusty road before her. ... One story was repeated time after time: the bullet splinted door, the body sprawled across the threshold, indicating that the inhabitants had been forced to stay inside until their homes were blown up ove them." Source: E. H. Hutchison, Violent Truce: A Military Observer Looks At the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1951-1955, New York: Devin-Adair Company, 1956, p. 44. While explicitly anti-Zionist, Hutchison was a U.S. naval officer who from 1951-1954 served on the Israel-Jordan Mixed Armistice Commission established by the U.N. (and chaired it for much of that time), and in this book he related his personal observations and official U.S. reports. |
Open Directory: Qibya
"Qibya and Shatila: Lessons Not Learnt" (Nizar Farsakh; Zenjustice.com; December 5, 2001)
"Nailing Sharon for Qibya Will Bring Peace" (Ahmed Amr; Media Monitors Network; May 31, 2001)
"An Eye for an Eye" (Flore de Pr�neuf; Salon; February 6, 2001)
"Interviews with Qibya Survivors" (ZenJustice.com)
Alternate spellings: Kibya, Quibya, Qibiya
Nahalin, Jordan (March 28-29 night, 1954)
What happened: "An Israeli watchman wsa killed near Kissalon, west of Jerusalem, but the case was not referred to the Commission for investigation. Two nights later the Israelis struck in force at Nahhalin Village in Jordan, killing nine and wounding nineteen. It was a small Qibya--demolition bombs, incendiary bombs, automatic weapons, and grenades."
Source: E. H. Hutchison, Violent Truce: A Military Observer Looks At the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1951-1955, New York: Devin-Adair Company, 1956, p. 55. See also a photograph of one of the victims between page 72 and 73. While explicitly anti-Zionist, Hutchison was a U.S. naval officer who from 1951-1954 served on the Israel-Jordan Mixed Armistice Commission established by the U.N. (and chaired it for much of that time), and in this book he related his personal observations and official U.S. reports.
Gaza City (April 5, 1956)
What happened: Israelis shelled Gaza City, killing 56 and wounding 193
| On April 4 there had been an incident of firing on the
Gaza ADL [Armistice Demarcation Line] between Israeli and Egyptian forces, which
had resulted in three Israelis' being killed. ... On the 5th another exchange
was set off .... In the exchange the Egyptians had fired some mortar-shells at
Israeli settlements, causing a few casualties. Thereupon, in retaliation, an
Israeli major ordered fire by 120-mm. mortars on Gaza. A heavy fire was poured
in, centered on the middle of the town, full of civilians about their ordinary
business. Fifty-six Arabs were killed and 103 wounded, men, women, and
children. The unjustifiable savagery of this retaliation shocked the Israeli authorities, I believe. It seems to have been due to the bad judgment, to use the mildest possible phrase, of a local commander. But the Israeli Army tried to offer the excuse that their mortars were firing at military objectives. Unfortunately for this contention, the UN observers were able to investigate the occurrence before the mortar-shells had ceased falling, and the location of the hits was promptly plotted. It showed the "mean point of impact" right in the middle of the town, in the principal square, while the Egyptian mortars were upwards of two kilometers away, somewhere near Ali Muntar. Later, the Israelis averred that there was some undefined kind of headquarters in Gaza which had been their target, but we found no evidence that there was such a headquarters. The well-known Police H.Q. in the "Taggart Fort," also cited by the Israelis as a justifiable target, was about 1500 metres distant from the Israelis' point of aim. Source: E.L.M. Burns, Between Arab and Israeli, London: George G. Harrap & Co., 1962, pp. 140-141. Reprinted Beirut: Institute of Palestinian Studies, 1969. Burns, a general in the Canadian military, served as Chief of Staff of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization from August 1954 until November 1956, and then as commander of the United Nations Emergency Force until the spring of 1957. |