Why does no one remember the Sabra and Shatila massacre ?
On the 42nd anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacre, which took place in the Israeli-controlled Palestinian camps near Beirut, Israel launched an unprecedented attack on Tuesday that resulted in twenty deaths and thousands of injuries by detonating pagers that Hezbollah typically uses.
Hezbollah members were not the only victims of the attack, as Lebanon's health minister revealed that many civilians, including two children, carried the pagers.
This tragic event exacerbates the pain of the Sabra and Shatila anniversary. Conducted between 16 and 18 September 1982 by the Christian Phalangist militia, it resulted in the massacre of over 3,500 people, including many children, women, and elderly refugees, all as the Israeli army looked and cheered on.
This year's anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacre coincides with the pager explosions and the persistent genocide in Gaza, highlighting the continuous brutality of Israel's tactics and a notable shift in public response.
Sabra and Shatila was a significant episode in a lengthy series of Israeli massacres and ethnic cleansing that began with the 1948 Nakba and resulted in the ethnic cleansing of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian natives from their ancestral homeland.
The war resulting in the establishment of the state of Israel that year included the Tantura massacre, in which between 200–250 Palestinian villagers were murdered, and the Deir Yassin massacre, where between 107–250 Palestinian villagers were also killed.
The Israeli army perpetuated the same policy after 1948 in Palestine and other Arab nations, as shown by the 1970 Bahr al-Baqar school bombing in Egypt and the 1996 Qana massacre in Lebanon.
Since 2005 in the Gaza Strip, Israel has committed several war crimes and atrocities, enforced a severe siege, and conducted five significant military assaults that resulted in killing thousands of Palestinians.
In the ongoing genocidal war, Israeli troops have killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, including many who were seeking refuge in designated "safe zones," such as hospitals or United Nations schools.
The long history of Israeli massacres against Arab civilians has only intensified and expanded over the years, attributable to two reasons. The primary reason is the intrinsically the racist character of the Zionist ideology, especially as the state increasingly aligns with the far right.
In Israel today, the idea of Jewish supremacy has become mainstream. Following the Hamas retaliatory attack on 7 October, senior Israeli officials have issued several racist remarks, including Defense Minister Yoav Gallant's vulgar comparison of Palestinians to “human animals.”
The second reason why Israel has sustained its pattern of massacres, particularly in Gaza, is due to its international support. Western governments have persisted in supplying arms to Israel, notwithstanding the escalating Palestinian death toll, which has already exceeded 41,000.
Simultaneously, Arab nations have demonstrated no support for Palestinians beyond rhetoric, with several maintaining political and economic ties with Israel as if nothing happened.
Following nearly a year of war in Gaza and without a substantial international effort to stop the slaughter, Israel appears to have determined that it can kill as many Palestinians as it wants and destroy many of the enclave's homes, buildings, and medical facilities in the process.
Shortly after the Sabra and Shatila massacre in September 1982, the Peace Now movement organized a demonstration in Tel Aviv, attracting over 400,000 participants who demanded an investigation into Israel's involvement. The protest effectively pushed the government to initiate the Kahan Commission, which determined that Israel bore "indirect responsibility" for the massacre, resulting in Ariel Sharon's resignation as defense minister.
Forty-two years subsequent to those demonstrations, Israel persists in executing daily massacres and war crimes in Gaza; nonetheless, the Israeli public has not united in opposition. On the contrary, Israeli officials, journalists, and citizens publicly endorse the state's genocidal actions.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is winning in the polls. The main focus of domestic public opposition to the war is to urge the government to negotiate an agreement for the release of the remaining Israeli captives in Gaza.
Although Israel's ability to inflict brutality upon the Palestinian populace without consequence may seem indicative of strength, historical evidence suggests otherwise.
When occupation projects escalate in severity, it could signal the beginning of their downfall. Furthermore, the devastation in Gaza has significantly compromised Israel's founding principle of "morality." Israel's ongoing crimes against Palestinians will render normalization with Arab governments impossible, as they remain the primary threat to Arab populations throughout the region.