Memory of Massacre—A Story from Beirut

, by Greg Shaheen,

September 16 was the anniversary of the 1982 massacre in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps of Beirut, Lebanon. Sabra and Shatila are two Palestinian refugee camps that were set up in 1948 to accommodate a large number of the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians forcefully displaced by the creation of the State of Israel.  Between September 16 and 18, 1982, the murder of thousands of Palestinian and Lebanese men, women, and children was carried out by a Lebanese Christian Phalangist militia as the Israeli Defense Forces sealed off exits of the camp and sent flares in the air to illuminate the sky for the attackers. As recently exposed from Israeli State Archives and presented in an op-ed piece in the New York Times, the United States was aware of the attacks and did not pressure Israel to end them. Although it was not the only massacre during the unfathomably bloody civil war in Lebanon that lasted from 1975-1990, it is an emotional memory of place and death that hit me hard when I was studying in Lebanon last fall.

During my semester at the American University of Beirut, I often found myself avoiding the familiar environment of this particularly Americanized part of the city. I felt that the AUB, and the surrounding areas of Beirut that it influences, obscured my experience and made it difficult to connect with the more indigenous aspects of Lebanon. So I navigated the unique Lebanese transportation system (semi-organized chaos) to spend time in places that were more exciting to me than the hip coffee shops, high-end clothing stores, and rooftop clubs—although I won’t lie, an occasional dip into the Lebanese spirit of hedonistic abandon in one of Beirut’s seemingly infinite bars and clubs was never too dull either.

Jumping out of a shared taxi onto the street that runs between Sabra and Shatila, I found it always full and in motion—people, cars, scooters, carts, food, trash, cheap things to buy—an overwhelming sensory experience that felt like an entirely new world. This is how my journeys into Shatila began. On my first visit, I spent time observing, having casual conversations, buying some bootlegged “habiby” CDs, or a pistachio dessert. I returned on the weekends regularly, eventually exploring deeper into Shatila. I had fewer and fewer qualms about being in a place not advised to visit by the State Department and many Lebanese largely influenced by sectarian suspicions. It struck me to find, among the residents, the same unique Palestinian spirit of hospitality and warmth that I felt the second I had made it through the Israeli border and into the hands of Palestinians in the West Bank some months earlier.

This is one of the reasons my time spent in Shatila made such an impression on me—I felt Palestine. But I also sensed the tragic effect of separation from one’s homeland on those residing in the camp. I was among a restricted community of people removed from Palestine for three or four generations. They cannot make the trip a few hours south to return home; many of their homes either no longer exist or are occupied by Israeli families. They are not given citizenship or equal rights in Lebanese society, but still very much hold on to their identity as Palestinians; many still have their housekeys for the day they are able to return.

Most of my memories in the refugee camp revolve around a young “dabke” troupe. Dabke is a Levantine folk dance that has been taken up as an expression of Palestinian nationalism and resistance to cultural and political oppression. I sat and watched the stomping, twirling, and smiling as they danced by light from candles placed on the floor throughout a room of the camp (electricity is frequently shut down). I walked through the narrow, dark alleyways, sometimes exchanging greetings with undistinguishable figures as we passed each other: “Assalamu alaykum.” “Wa alaykum a’salaam.” I was welcomed into their homes. Sitting on a curb with my friend Hasan, he told me how he feels happy to be Palestinian and to have the opportunity to dance dabke in two troupes despite all the other restrictions and stifled aspirations that life in a refugee camp brings.

On one occasion I rode with Hasan on the back of his scooter. He was weaving in and out of the traffic on the street between Sabra and Shatila, consistently and narrowly avoiding collisions with who-knows-what. There was one stretch of the street that was relatively calm. He slowed down, turned to me, and told me that when the massacre in 1982 happened, this street was full of dead bodies. After one or two repetitions, my imperfect Arabic comprehended his words. I felt his pain and the pain of his people.

It is important to acknowledge the resilience of the Palestinian people, to affirm their humanity and good nature.  But in doing so, I do not want to normalize their suffering, in historic Palestine and worldwide. At a time when the “peace process” continues to ignore the rights and aspirations of the Palestinian people, perhaps we can take a moment to memorialize the Sabra and Shatila massacre and understand the magnitude of the refugee problem that currently affects over 4.9 million Palestinian refugees. I hope this recognition can lead to a desire to contribute to the international effort to enable the Palestinian people to exercise the right of self-determination and a peaceful existence.

  • Bill Starr

    Great article, Greg. Thank you for your courage, and shining a light on this ongoing tragedy.

  • Anonymous

    There are two UN refugee agencies in the world: First is the United Nations
    Relief and Works Administrations (UNRWA) for 5 million Palestinian refugees
    (which includes the descendants of the original 500,000 Palestinian refugees
    from the Israeli War of Independence) which employs 30,000 workers. The UNRWA
    has resettled no Palestinians.

    The second refugee agency is the United Nations High Commissioner for
    Refugees (UNHCR), which assists every other refugee in the world–including 100
    million displaced people during the last 50 years–and employs 7,000 people. The
    UNHCR has resettled tens of millions of refugees.

    Looking at these numbers, one would think that the cause of the Palestinians
    is some how morally superior to that of all other war refugees. After all, why
    have so many more workers been assisting a dramatically smaller group of
    people? But if the Palestinians are unique it is only because of their moral
    inferiority, as they are the only group of refugees that regularly commit acts
    of terrorism against innocent civilians.

    Another obvious question: why hasn’t the UNRWA resettled any of the
    Palestinian refugees? The answer, of course, is that the surrounding Arab
    states would rather have these refugees remain a thorn in Israel’s side, than
    help them start a new life. The UNRWA is happy to oblige.

  • Anonymous

    Could Gregg explain this conundrum for me?

    Why is it Muslims are free to violently conquer lands anywhere and everywhere
    without a word of protest from American Muslims, or any Muslims for that
    matter, but if Jews have a legally established homeland Muslims will never stop
    protesting against it? Why is this do you suppose? What explanation can be
    given other than as the Qur’an states repeatedly that Islam’s goal is to
    establish a worldwide caliphate in which all non-Muslims are subjugated.

    For instance, Mohammed was born around 571 AD thousands and thousands of years
    after Hinduism, Buddhism and Judaism existed. But within a few centuries of
    Mohammed’s birth Islam had violently conquered vast sections of Asia, all of
    North Africa and smaller sections of Southern Europe.

    Now Muslims tell us that all this land belongs to them even though, for
    instance, in Afghanistan they killed every last Buddhist who once lived there.
    According to Muslim logic per Israel shouldn’t this land belong to the
    Buddhists?

    Or in North Africa all the Berbers have been forcibly converted to Islam or
    have been killed and now we’re told all this vast landmass belongs to Islam.
    That’s interesting, if not completely hypocritical. And what about Southern
    Thailand. Did anyone know that in the last several years something like 5,000
    Buddhists have been killed by Muslims because, or so we’re told, the land the
    Buddhists are on belongs to Islam. And Southern Russia? Muslims are
    relentlessly waging a slow reign of terror in Russia because, you guessed it,
    Russians are treating Muslims poorly and they should give up the Southern
    section of that country to Muslims.

    Or, let’s take Sudan as another example. How many millions have been killed in
    Sudan? How many babies and children have starved in Sudan while Islamists steal
    the food from aid compounds? How many women have Muslims gang-raped in Sudan
    all because that land belongs to Muslims and only Muslims. All other people can
    go somewhere else to live, I guess.

    And Kashmir? The same. Despite Hindus having lived there for 3,000 years –
    something like 2,000+ years before Mohammed was born – Muslims tell us Kashmir
    belongs to them. Amazing logic isn’t it?

    And that brings us to Israel. Israel also belongs to Islam. Did you know that?
    It’s true. Even though it’s no bigger than a small pimple on the caliphate’s
    ass it is still their land and they will fight to the death to prove their
    point.

    Doesn’t the logic here make a lot of sense. Isn’t it as clear as day? Of course
    it is. The world belongs to Islam and we’re mere players on their stage.

  • Anonymous

    The official media
    narrative is that these differences are the results of eons of oppression,
    checkpoints and blockades. Fair enough. But then why does the IMF put Israel’s
    GDP Per Capita well ahead of the oil rich kingdom of Saudi Arabia?

    Saudi Arabia has no Israeli checkpoints, no Israeli soldiers or planes flying
    overhead. It has wealth literally pouring out of the ground with a fifth of the
    world’s petroleum reserves. And yet the IMF puts it 13 places behind Israel and
    the World Bank puts it 8 places behind Israel. The only Muslim countries with a
    better GDP Per Capita rating than Israel are small monarchies drowning in oil.

    The non-oil Muslim countries who are closest to Israel are Malaysia and
    Lebanon, 32 and 33 places behind Israel. Both countries also have sizable
    non-Muslim populations. Muslims make up only 50 percent of Lebanon and only 60
    percent of Malaysia.

    38 places below Israel is Turkey, which until recently was a secular country
    and actually has a statistically significant atheist population. And that’s it.
    Below that we fall off a cliff into places like Belarus, South Africa and
    Grenada; all of whom still have better GDP Per Capita rates. No Muslim country
    without oil has a better GDP Per Capita than a Muslim country that has sizable
    Christian or Buddhist minorities.

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