Democratic Palestine : 19 (ص 32)
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- Democratic Palestine : 19 (ص 32)
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it. Dr. Tuma observed the popular
character of the revolt and how it took
the traditional political leadership by
surprise. After dealing with the deve-
lopment of the revolt and then its halt,
the book discusses the situation in
Palestine during and after World War
II. During the years that followed the
war, the Palestinian leadership was
shattered, while the Zionist institutions
were strengthened, ending with the
partition that was a turning point in the
history of the Palestinan question.
No presentation of The Roots of the
Palestinian Question, no matter how
lengthy, can cover all the ideas con-
tained in the book. In his review, Dr.
Anis Sayegh said that every idea in the
book is «worthy of attention». Dr.
Tuma’s book showed the correct way to
document Palestinian history.
THE PALESTINIAN ARAB
NATIONAL MOVEMENT
SIXTY YEARS
We must also point to another book
of Emile Tuma, that is just as impor-
tant: The Palestinian Arab Nationalist
Movement-Sixty Years was published in
1978, by the PLO’s Media and Educa-
tion Department, and the Iben Rushd
publishing house. The book expands
the ideas of his two other books, Arab
Unity and The Roots of the Palestinian
Question. It focuses on the Palestinian
struggle with its Arab dimension, the
big achievement of the Palestinian
people, i.e., the establishment of the
PLO, the PLO’s achievements and the
coming dangers.
Experience has proven that Dr.
Tuma’s works are indispensible to
anyone doing research in Palestinian
history, and to every reader. One year
after his death, we salute the great
Palestinian historian and writer whose
works merit further study to define his
position in the Palestinian political and
cultural history. e
Sabra-Shatila Massacre
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The following article appeared in Al Safir, the Lebanese progressive nationalist newspaper, on the
occasion of the 4th anniversary of the Sabra-Shatila massacre. It was a presentation by Bayan Nwaihed
Al Hoot, progressive Palestinian journalist, telling about the field research he did on the Sabra-Shatila
massacre, to the international conference held in Bonn, March 1985 to discuss Israeli crimes against the
Lebanese and Palestinian masses.
Time: Thursday, September 16, 1982
Place: Sabra and Shatila, Beirut
Area: Approx. One square kilometer
Inhabitants: Mostly Palestinians and Lebanese. the area is one
of the camps for Palestinian refugees from 1948. It is also a
popular, poor Lebanese area. Persons of various other natio-
nalities also live here, but they are not asked for their ID cards.
Though the people are poor, they survive, and being a for-
eigner does not rule out the right to live and be secure.
Subject: The massacre - Murderers spread death and fear for
three days and departed, but they are known. From Thursday
evening until Saturday morning, for forty continuous hours,
the massacre went on.
Casualties: Many of the victims have vanished, buried by
bulldozers, and many of the survivors are dispersed. Those
who remain are identified by a torn ID card, a leather shoe or
the color of their shirt. Their names have been recorded, but
they were few. Many names were absent from the list for a
variety of reasons. Yet the victims are all known. They are
immortal in our life and memory.
GOALS OF THE RESEARCH
The aim of this research is not merely to satisfy scientific
curiosity, nor to serve coming generations as is normally taken
for granted. The obstacles to writing on this matter challenge
the scientific curiosity and commitment to writing history of
any writer. ;
The question is: Why were they killed? And why do we
remain? Was it the crime of the Lebanese among them, to be
30
born in Shabaa,Magdal Zoun,Beaufort Castle and Bint Jabil
(villages of South Lebanon)? Was it the crime of the Palesti-
nians among them, to be born in Tarshiha, Deir Al Qasi, Kha-
lisa, Suhmata and Safouria (villages in Palestine, destroyed by
the Zionists)? Or was it the crime of the two peoples, that they
were forced to migrate time after time, from Saida, Sour and
Nabatiyeh, from Dekwani, Tal Al Zaatar, Bourj Hammoud
and Karantina?
And we, why did we stay alive? Is it because we were born in
the capitals, or because the murderers’ capacity, no matter how
big, had its limits? Thank God that their capacity did not
exceed one square kilometer, and that we have money to rent
an average or deluxe apartment outside the border of the
popular areas. Maybe that’s why we stayed alive, because we
have enough to live outside the ‘borders’, so we have to pay the
price for remaining. This is not a financial one. It is the desire
to search for answers to the questions: Why? What happened?
In our great tragedy, in our struggle with the Zionist enemy,
we, the Arabs, are unaware of a great deal about this tragedy.
We think that we know. We are content with generalities. We
do not take an indepth look at each tragedy so as to prevent the
coming one. Yesterday was the tragedy of Deir Yassin, Kibya,
Kafr Qasem and Al Samu’. Yesterday was Bahr Al Baqar (site
of Israeli air raid on Egypt) and Khiyam (village where Saad
Haddad committed a massacre). Yesterday was Sabra and
Shatila, and tomorrow the bloody story will repeat itself
anywhere the struggle with the Zionist enemy continues. The - هو جزء من
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