Tuesday, November 5, 2024
Palestine

Sabra and Shatila Massacre: September 16, 1982

Sabra and Shatila Massacre:  September 16, 1982

US AID TO ISRAEL in 1982: $1.4 BILLION

Israeli Defense Minister authorized the Lebanese Christian militia to enter the Sabra neighborhood, where many Palestinians & Lebanese Muslims lived, & the Shatila Palestinian refugee camp in Beruit, Lebanon. Over a period of 36 hours, the Lebanese Christian militia mutilated and murdered civilians, including babies and young children, while Israeli troops stood by, blocked the exits, and lit up the sky with flares so the militiamen could carry out the brutality. 

The exact number massacred is not known but is estimated to be up to 4,000 murdered and has been declared by the UN General Assembly declared to be an act of genocide. Defense Minister Ariel Sharon was forced to resign due to this incident, but would later be elected Prime Minister of Israel. Survivors and family members of those massacred demand justice, but none has been given.

US AID TO ISRAEL in 2021: $3.3 BILLION 

Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. foreign assistance since WWII.

 

In 2021, nearly 10,000 Palestinian refugees currently live in the Shatila camp in Lebanon, 500,000 more throughout Lebanon, and 1.5 million in the region. Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are deprived of a right to own property, to work in any but 39 professions, and to access Lebanon state services like healthcare and education. Tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees living in Syria have also been displaced a second time due to conflict in Syria. This year, the US gave $235 million in humanitarian aid to all refugees in the region — 1/14th of what they gave to the Israeli military. 

 

Since September 2020, as of this writing, Israeli forces have killed 329 Palestinians, including 81 children and displaced thousands more, with an average of 110 displacements per month in the West Bank due to home demolitions. Israeli air strikes destroyed 1,770 housing units and damaged 25,620 housing units, multiple water and sanitation facilities and infrastructure, 179 government schools and 33 health facilities over an 11 day onslaught in May 2021, with tens of thousands of families forced to take refuge in UN-run school buildings. In Sheik Jarrah, where families have been resisting eviction for decades, Israeli police trucks sprayed malodorant weapons on Palestinian homes, community areas, and places of worship — among other police and rightwing Israeli violence in the neighborhood. 

Demand Support for Palestinian Refugees, the Right to Return, and the end of US Aid to Israel!

Posted September 16, 2021