"Today, Wednesday October 29, marks the fifty-second anniversary of the Kufur Qassim massacre in which Israeli soldiers killed 49 Palestinian civilians including women and twenty-three children between the ages of 8 and 17.
The massacre was carried out on October 29, 1956 after Israeli troops stationed at the Jordanian border declared curfew on the following Arab villages close to the border: Kufur Qassim, Kufur Barra, Jaljoulia, Al Taiba, Qalansawa, Beer Al Sikka and Ibthan.
The Border Guard Unit of the Israeli army, headed by Major Shmoel Malinky, was in charge of declaring curfew on these villages. He was under the direct command of Major Yiskhar Sadmy.
The orders stated that curfew would be imposed from 5 in the evening until 6 in the morning. Shidmy ordered Malinky to impose a strict curfew and demanded him to shoot anyone who ventured into the streets instead of conducting arrests.
“It’s better to shoot and kill than dealing with the complications of arrests”, Shadmi said, “I don’t want any sympathy with anyone”.
Troops then were deployed in the Arab villages and a unit commanded by Gabriel Dahan headed to Kufur Qassim village. He deployed four brigades in several parts of the village including one brigade that was stationed at the western entrance of Kufur Qassim.
At approximately 4:30 in the evening, a military commander informed the Mukhtar (acting as mayor) of the village that the village would be under curfew and ordered him to inform the residents at 5pm.
The Mukhtar said that there were approximately 400 villagers who worked outside of the village and half an hour would not be enough to inform everybody. The commander then promised that the workers would be allowed into the village in order to go home, and stated that he and the government would be responsible for their safety.
The massacre started at 5 in the evening,at the western entrance to the village. The army executed 43 men at the western entrance, three more at the northern entrance, two inside the village, and a child, 11, was killed in a nearby village.
On that day, Israeli soldiers shot and killed 48 Palestinians in Kufur Qassim; among them were ten children and nine women. "
The massacre was carried out on October 29, 1956 after Israeli troops stationed at the Jordanian border declared curfew on the following Arab villages close to the border: Kufur Qassim, Kufur Barra, Jaljoulia, Al Taiba, Qalansawa, Beer Al Sikka and Ibthan.
The Border Guard Unit of the Israeli army, headed by Major Shmoel Malinky, was in charge of declaring curfew on these villages. He was under the direct command of Major Yiskhar Sadmy.
The orders stated that curfew would be imposed from 5 in the evening until 6 in the morning. Shidmy ordered Malinky to impose a strict curfew and demanded him to shoot anyone who ventured into the streets instead of conducting arrests.
“It’s better to shoot and kill than dealing with the complications of arrests”, Shadmi said, “I don’t want any sympathy with anyone”.
Troops then were deployed in the Arab villages and a unit commanded by Gabriel Dahan headed to Kufur Qassim village. He deployed four brigades in several parts of the village including one brigade that was stationed at the western entrance of Kufur Qassim.
At approximately 4:30 in the evening, a military commander informed the Mukhtar (acting as mayor) of the village that the village would be under curfew and ordered him to inform the residents at 5pm.
The Mukhtar said that there were approximately 400 villagers who worked outside of the village and half an hour would not be enough to inform everybody. The commander then promised that the workers would be allowed into the village in order to go home, and stated that he and the government would be responsible for their safety.
The massacre started at 5 in the evening,at the western entrance to the village. The army executed 43 men at the western entrance, three more at the northern entrance, two inside the village, and a child, 11, was killed in a nearby village.
On that day, Israeli soldiers shot and killed 48 Palestinians in Kufur Qassim; among them were ten children and nine women. "
No comments:
Post a Comment