That Massacre Was Personal
I watched the Sabra and Shatila massacre from Youngstown, Ohio.
Note: This is the article I update and post every year during this time because, WE TOO NEVER FORGET!
These last few days, as they do every year, weigh heavy on every Palestinian’s heart. For me and my family, the heaviness is also personal.
Every Palestinian carries around two hearts. One is similar to that which all others carry; it keeps us alive, active, working, loving, moving, singing, playing, and hopeful that tomorrow will bring a better day. The second is very difficult to explain; it is the one that carries within it dark and heavy memories of our existence. Every Palestinian carries this dark heart, albeit the number of chambers in each varies; for far too many, new chambers are added daily, yet others are calcified but fully preserved.
Every year, these September days bring to the forefront one of those chambers present in all of our black hearts. This week in 1982, 41 years ago, in full coordination with the Israeli military which had invaded South Lebanon a few months prior, a group of “Christian” Phalangist fundamentalists, entered two Palestinian refugee camps, Sabra and Shatila, and slaughtered around 3,000 Palestinian civilians. The exact number is still not known. Most were murdered assassination…
