Friday, 9 April 1948. Remembered by all Palestinians over the world as a day of infamy in the worst chapter of Palestinian history, what is known as an-Nabka or catastrophe.
Deir Yassin, a Palestinian village of around 600 inhabitants in 1948, West of Jerusalem.
A Muslim Palestinian village that signed a pact of good relations with the nearby Jewish Orthodox village of Giv’at Shaul when hostilities erupted in 1948.
However, around 120 fighters from different paramilitary Zionist groups attacked Deir Yassin on 9 April, savagely killing around 107 villagers, including women and children. Survivors also reported sexual violence and looting.
It is said several other villagers were taken prisoners and were paraded through the streets of (occupied West) Jerusalem, before being killed; while over 50 orphans were abandoned in the streets of Jerusalem.
The massacre was widely condemned, even by the Haganah, the main Jewish paramilitary force, and by the area’s two chief rabbis.
The infamous Deir Yassin massacre sparked terror within the Palestinian community, and as a result many villagers fleed their houses before the arrival of the Jewish troops to carry out the “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians in Palestine.
In 1948, more than 760,000 Palestinians – estimated today to number 4.7 million with their descendants – were pushed into exile or driven out of their homes as the state of Israel was established in 1948.
Arab governments interveened, but only five weeks later.
With today’s historical perspective, it is clear that the massacre of Deir Yassin was not the largest-scale one or the most cruel inflicted by the Zionists. But still, Deir Yassin marks one of the most critical turning points in Palestinian history.
Deir Yassin is, in the minds of Palestinians around the globe, a reminder of their ongoing Nakba, which started in 1948 with the creation of the Jewish state and continues today in Israel’s apartheid practices.
After the massacre, the Israelis changed the name of the village to Kfar Shaul, moved Holocaust survivors into homes that were not destroyed and build a mental institution on the site. Ironically, the site itself is within full view of the Holocaust Memorial, the museum visited by each of the high dignataries visiting Israel. However, no guide tells them that from there they can also see the remaindings of one of the endless Israel massacres.
By the way, Jewish marked Holocaust Memorial Day yesterday, April 8.
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To know more:
- Wikipedia: Deir Yassin Massacre
- Deir Yassin Remembered
- Palestine Remembered
- Counterpunch: Reflect on the Beautiful Lives Lost. Deir Yassin Massacre Remembered
- Ma’an: Barghouti, “Deir Yassin massacre has not ended”
- Family account by Dina Elmuti in The Electronic Intifada: We must never forget the massacre in Deir Yassin
[من فلسطين] 