Palestinians recall Sabra, Shatila massacre
Lebanon-Palestine, Politics, 9/18/2000

Palestinians in Lebanon recalled on Saturday family and friends killed in Beirut by Christian militiamen 18 years ago in the worst atrocity of Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon.

They held rallies, protest marches and a photography exhibition to mark the Sabra and Shatila massacre - an unforgettable tragedy for most Palestinian refugees.

Camp residents said their bitterness and sorrow would only be erased when they win the right to return to their homeland.

On September 16, 1982, Christian militiamen started a three-day killing spree in Sabra and Shatila, after being let in by Israeli soldiers who sealed off the two camps when they occupied the western sector of the Lebanese capital.

The militiamen massacred more than 1,000 men, women and children in one of the worst atrocities of Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war while Israeli soldiers stood by.

Life came to a standstill at Shatila on Friday night as dozens of Palestinians chanted anti-Israeli slogans while marching towards the cemetery.

Some held candles stuck in plastic bottles. Others held banners demanding the right of return to the homes they were forced to leave during the 1948 creation of Israel.

"We don't want to be naturalized (Lebanese) nor do we want to go to a foreign country, we want to return to Palestine. Death to Israel," they shouted.

The United Nations estimates there are 365,000 Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Most live in wretched conditions.

Previous Stories:
  Abu Mousa: It is not time for military action from Lebanon   (6/9/2000)
  Lebanese clergy confers with Palestinian Islamic Jihad delegation   (6/7/2000)
  Palestinian opposition will not attack Israel from South Lebanon   (6/5/2000)

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