ZGram - 11/28/2001 - "Perhaps the truth at last!"

[irimland@zundelsite.org]

Copyright (c) 2001 - Ingrid A. Rimland

ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny

November 28, 2001

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

We should all be following this developing story very closely, as placed by
Robert Fisk in the Independent today:

[START]

28 November 2001

"...after 19 years, perhaps the truth at last.

Chilling new evidence suggests that more than 1,000 Palestinian survivors
of the Sabra and Chatila camp massacres in Beirut were "disappeared" within
24 hours of the slaughter, often in areas under direct Israeli military
control.

The testimony - which describes in detail how the victims were last seen by
their families in the hands of Israeli troops and Israel's militia allies -
will be among the material to be considered by a Belgian judge, who could
decide today whether the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, should be
prosecuted for the slaughter.

Mr Sharon was judged "personally responsible" for the massacre by the
Israeli Kahan Commission in 1983. Its report concluded that hundreds of
Palestinian civilians, including women and children, were all butchered
between 16 and 18 September in 1982.

But among the female witnesses cited by lawyers in Belgium, who are seeking
the indictment against Mr Sharon, are at least five who claim that more
than 100 men were detained by the militiamen and handed over to the
Israelis alive. They were never seen again.

Separately from the court action,film taken by a television crew at the
time, which has  recently come to light, appears to show Israeli officers
in the presence of Phalangist gunmen - long after the Israelis knew their
Phalangist allies had carried out the massacre, which caused worldwide
outrage and led Mr Sharon, then Defence Minister, to resign.

There has always been a discrepancy between the number of bodies found in
Sabra and Chatila - up to 600 - and the number of civilians registered as
missing - more than 1,800. Until now, it was assumed that all the victims
had been murdered by Phalangists and that many had been secretly buried.

If accepted by the court, the new evidencecould hold disturbing
implications for both the Israeli army and for Mr Sharon, particularly if
the  Israelis continued their collaboration with the Phalange after the
murders in the camps and if they permitted the Phalange to take away more
prisoners.

=====

 (Source:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=107173 )

=====

Thought for the Day:

"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown."

(Shakespeare)