This week it is sixty-five years ago that the Israeli Army massacred forty-eight Arab civilians in the town of Kfar Qasim. The massacre occurred after Israeli officers specifically ordered their soldiers to “shoot on sight” and “no prisoners are to be taken”.
On October 29th,1956, Israel started a war against Egypt, together with France and Great Britain and invaded the Sinai Peninsula. Worried that Jordan would join the war and invade Israel from the East, the border was guarded intensely and the Arab towns and villages were put under extended curfew. Since the curfew order was given at the last moment, many of the villagers, working in the fields, were not aware it was declared and did not return home in time. While the commanders of the various units occupying the different towns and villages all heard the incredible orders of the army brass, most of them recognized it as an illegal and immoral order and while in all villages people returned home late, they were allowed to go home. Except in Kfar Qasim. The local commander made the decision that the orders should be taken and executed as they were given, and, after a large group of people was stopped at the entrance of Kfar Qasim, he gave his soldiers the order to shoot them.
After the ill-fated Sinai operation ended and relative quiet returned to the area, Kfar Qasim remained off-limits to all, including the press and politicians who were eager to see for themselves if the circulating rumors were true. Only after two months, publications related to the massacre made the general public aware of the killings and the State had no choice to arrest the perpetrators and put them on trial. In the end, eleven soldiers were found guilty of murder, together with their commander, but the colonel who gave the original order was tried and found not guilty. The soldiers received sentences of between 10 to 16 years, but by the end of the year after the trials, all were free men, having been pardoned by the president of Israel.
The massacre of Kfar Qasim is just one of several events, during and after the War of Independence, where Israeli troops indiscriminately killed civilians with as only reason given that they were Arabs. Dir Yassin, where more than a hundred civilians were murdered in 1948 is another such black spot on Israel’s historic conscience.
The actions of the State of Israel after the massacre, were shameful at best, and the judicial system miserably failed, with the political echelon making every effort to white-wash the event and trivialize its implications. The only positive note in the whole judicial farce that followed the massacre, was a remark by one of the judges, Binyamin Halevy, that while orders must be obeyed and a soldier does not have the ability to weigh the legality of each order he receives, there are orders that are manifestly illegal and a black flag waves over them, and a soldier must disobey such an order. This principle was adopted by the Israel army and is taught in officer courses as an important part of a commander’s education. Of course the principle of “manifestly illegal” remains problematic but the fact that it is part of the soldier’s responsibility to judge an order they receive on its moral and legal merit, is important and laudable.
Over the years there have been several attempts to have the State of Israel officially recognize the Kfar Qasim events as a massacre against Israeli civilians and integrate it into the education system to be taught as a gruesome event that shows how wrong things can go in war. However, until now these efforts have been futile (even though it was taught at some schools for some time as a historic event) and the State has never moved to an official standpoint on the massacre. Of course, this is not surprising Even in these times, the so-called “October Events” of October 2000, where 13 Israelis were killed by police in riots in the Wadi Ara area during demonstrations is a sad example of how things did not change. The similarity between those events and the Kfar Qasim massacre are astounding. It has been twenty-one years, but no one, not one single police officer or army soldier, was tried or punished for the killings. Thirteen Israelis were murdered and no one was held responsible.
The lack of recognition by the State, the lack of responsibility expressed by the State for such massacres is a major obstacle to making the Arab population of Israel an integral part of the State but maybe that is the main (and only) reason this recognition is refused time and again. After the events in Kfar Qasim, compensation was paid to the survivors, and at least two (and as of today, three) Presidents have attended the memorials held in Kfar Qasim and expressed regret and apologized, but that is a far cry from the recognition that would clear the air and allow all to move on.
And this week it was sadly noted that even the Kfar Qasim massacre has not escaped the claws of those who make a political game of everything and will use even such tragic events for political gain. And it was even more abhorrent to see that in this case, Arab politicians clashed in the Knesset over a bill to recognize the massacre and used it as the bouncing ball of their despicable games. And it must be admitted. They learned from their Jewish counterparts and maybe even surpassed them. A Joint List member, Aida Touma-Suleiman, submitted a bill to recognize the massacre, even though she knew very well that the Left-wing members of the coalition would not be able to support such a bill unless it was brought forward by the coalition itself. Meretz Knesset member Esawi Freige, (who lives in Kfar Qasim and had family members killed in the massacre) sharply criticized her and rightly so. The only reason the bill was brought forward at this point in time was to have it defeated and thus embarrass the coalition. Ms. Touma-Suleiman knew well that negotiations with the coalition were in progress and would likely have resulted in a government-sponsored bill that would most likely have passed when put to a vote. But that did not stop her from submitting her own bill knowing full well what would happen.
It will be at least six months before this bill, or a similar one, can be brought before the parliament but what is six months after waiting sixty-five years…………. And maybe it will give the parliamentarians time to reflect on these events and the way they handle them. The Jews will have time to ponder when Jewish blood will stop to be thicker than Arab blood. To realize that war is dirty also if it is waged by Israel. The Arabs will maybe come to the conclusion that they need to stand together on this and so many other events, to make them stronger, to show their voters that they really look out for them and not only for their seat and their political wrangling. But don’t expect too much of either. They all are infused with the political disease that prevents clear thinking. Both Jews and Arabs are united in their failure to do right by their constituents. Maybe it is time we make them pay.
I hope you found this article interesting and I welcome any comments you may have.
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