'#' : location.hash;window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUQuery = location.search === '' && location.href.slice(0 location.href.length - window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUHash.length).indexOf('?') !== -1 '?' : location.search;if (window.history && window.history.replaceState) {var ogU = location.pathname + window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUQuery + window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUHash;history.replaceState(null "\/liveblog_entry\/police-find-another-trafficked-monkey-during-raid-in-kafr-qasim\/?__cf_chl_rt_tk=PEQP6ffUHm4LTgVfonJ9MUSU4WdXLfPwigbEs.4vP6I-1746514660-1.0.1.1-cGtEP59GJbwInfDr_ch44.N_inhKYboCvGSDrG0lOe0" + window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUHash);cpo.onload = function() {history.replaceState(null ogU);}}document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(cpo);}()); Kfar Qassem is a small bucolic city northeast of Petach Tikva It is also the little-known site of the first salvo of the Suez Canal Crisis an IDF commander made a decision that would permanently scar Israel’s Arab community we tell the story of the 49 Israeli citizens murdered at Kfar Qassem I find myself giving presentations across the globe – it’s fun And one of my favorite things to do recently is to show a Youtube clip of Mahmoud Abbas Israel has committed 50 Holocausts in Palestinian cities and villages.” And then how do you all feel when you hear that line Raise your hand if you can tell me what happened in Deir Yassin And I hope my point is clear – you’re allowed to love Israel Including…the difficult story of Kfar Qassem: where the Israeli army gunned down 49 Arab civilians as they returned home from work in October of 1956 (breath) That was a hard sentence to say out loud it’s not a Palestinian city in the West Bank or Gaza…It’s an Israeli Arab city a little northeast of Petach Tikvah.  This little village isn’t just like any other in Israel And an enduring symbol of the uneasy relationship between Arabs and Jews in Israel the memory of the massacre has haunted Israel’s Arabs as listeners of Unpacking Israeli History know all too well the Arab-Israeli conflict is peppered with massacres So why does the Arab community commemorate this one specifically why might this difficult story ACTUALLY be the key to peace in the Arab-Israeli conflict I want to invite you to imagine this for a minute The Israel of 1956 bears little resemblance to the Israel of 2023 No real infrastructure or significant exports straining the country’s limited resources to their breaking point Israel’s eastern border was an unofficial battleground as the Israeli military and border police faced down the infiltrators Egypt controlled two of the Middle East’s most important trade routes: the Suez Canal and the Straits of Tiran the Egyptian President forbade Israel from accessing either one preventing the development of the Israeli economy Egypt concluded a significant arms deal with the Soviets The Czech Arms Deal left Egypt very well-armored alarming its tiny Jewish neighbor – not to mention the United States who watched the growing Soviet influence in the Middle East with alarm But the straw that broke the camel’s back was Nasser’s nationalization of the Suez Canal in the summer of 1956 Add a constant stream of Egyptian infiltrators in Israel and you have all of the ingredients for a full-scale conflagration Israel nerd corner alert: after the Suez Crisis Israel officially declared closing off shipping lanes to be an act of war.)  But no one could have predicted that the first salvo would be fired not on the sands of the Sinai That the first casualties of the war would be the 49 civilians killed at Kfar Qassem I’m sure that plenty of historians might disagree with that analysis And I’m not trying to say anything about these 49 civilians leading to the Suez Crisis or the Sinai War But I’d argue that we can’t talk about the Suez Crisis without talking about this moment I’d argue that in the sweeping story of the Suez Crisis these ordinary men and women deserve to be remembered And before diving into the events of Kfar Qassem let’s talk about these Arab citizens of Israel I think that will give us the context we need to understand what happened in Kfar Qassem that day I think I’ve made it clear that life in early Israel wasn’t exactly easy for anyone But despite the lack of security or resources or money that means they had to worry about curfews and the demolition of their buildings and homes It’s certainly hard for me to say out loud we can’t build a better future without taking a good So I’m looking at the past as completely as I can And what I see in this instance is a real inconsistency between Israel’s stated ideals and its sometimes-ugly reality A decade before Ben Gurion declared independence he sketched out a rapturous vision for the Jewish state he rhapsodized about “one law for citizen and stranger alike The Jewish state will be an example to the world in its behavior toward minorities and foreigners.” when Ben Gurion signed the Declaration of Independence in 1948 will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion But though the Declaration of Independence is enormously important Ben Gurion’s government justified the policy as a matter of national security This is now the “to be sure” sentence in journalism: To be sure But as Israel’s internal security agencies made clear Even the hardliners – the men obsessed with the safety of the Jewish people and the Jewish state – believed that security was a flimsy excuse for keeping Arab communities under military rule for nearly 20 years you know we can’t go more than an episode without saying his name – my friend and yours the leader of the right-wing Herut party and former Irgun commander Menachem Begin Begin wrote that martial law was “a harmful anachronism.” Maaaaaybe it had been necessary during the 1948 war And the Arabs who remained within its borders were offered citizenship So Begin argued that there was no reason Arab citizens should live under martial law when Jewish ones didn’t Part of me wonders whether Begin might have identified with Israel’s Arabs Because in one of those dark ironies of history the terms of Israeli martial law were based on the laws of the British Mandate that had controlled the country just a decade before If you’ve already heard our Black Saturday episode then you know that the Brits were Begin’s sworn enemies That he’d lived under deep cover for years avoiding arrest even as he planned attacks on British targets And you also know how deeply Begin had longed for a state So perhaps he empathized with the Arab villagers who found themselves in limbo unable to build a real life while the military restricted their movement and their freedom But governments around the world have a long history of sacrificing personal liberties in the name of state security So as tensions with Egypt heated up in the fall of 1956 the Israeli government began to worry about all of their borders The armistice lines that divided Jordan and Israel had never presented much of a deterrent for Arab infiltrators sneaking in from Jordan – again Jordan might very well try to get in on the action All of which left the Israeli military very Because the Jordan-Israel border – or rather the armistice line that divided the countries – was peppered with Arab villages some in the Israeli military worried that Arab villagers might very well help The Israelis had fought a war on two fronts before They weren’t particularly eager to do it again But as the military geared up to invade the Sinai the commander in charge of Kfar Qassem’s sector made a fateful decision The historical record isn’t exactly clear as to why What we do know is that Colonel Yissachar Shadmi the brigade commander of the “Triangle” district that included Kfar Qassem made the simple decision to move the curfew up by five hours all villagers were to remain in their homes starting at 5pm My phone spends all day distracting me with “breaking news” and “urgent alerts.” That’s a lie it’s primarily just scrolling through TikTok and watching trends people making incredible omelets that seem impossible chances are I’ll find out about it immediately I’m prepared to bet that the villagers working the fields didn’t even have a radio So there was no way for the workers to know their curfew had just moved up by five hours And there was no way for them to know that the penalty for breaking the curfew was death “I don’t want sentimentality,” he told his battalion commander a few hours before the curfew went into effect “I don’t want detainees.” And if someone didn’t know about the curfew “Allah yerhamu.” Sounds almost exactly like Hebrew Less than 45 minutes before the updated curfew took effect the platoon in charge of Kfar Qassem spread out around the village But Melinki had already passed on his orders word-for-word And though most of the platoons ignored the command to shoot innocent villagers who were unaware of the curfew one platoon obeyed their orders to the tee.  But it’s worth understanding who these victims were other than being Arabs in a village near Jordan on the day that the army was preparing for war I wrote about the possibility of being passionate about Zionism and having empathy for others But every time an Israeli is killed in a terror attack the boulder – all of them could just as easily have been aimed at me So I think I can understand the pain Kfar Qassem caused in the Arab community This is what it means to be an Arab living in Israel To be put under curfew and shot coming home from work Jewish people know what it’s like to be second-class citizens And we know what it’s like to be subject to a government that doesn’t protect you – or worse Prime Minister Ben Gurion and the military censor tried to cover up the whole affair But the facts were too shocking to keep under wraps The story leaked with the help of a few rogue Knesset members who had visited the wounded and taken their testimonies This is not one of those stories where there are conflicting accounts of what happened Because the defense chose a pretty weak line But anyone with a moral compass could have seen that the order was – as Judge HaLevy put it – “manifestly illegal,” with “a black flag flying over it.” HaLevy sentenced eight men to decades in prison the man who had moved up the curfew and given the order to shoot on sight “May God have mercy on them” when asked what to do if the villagers didn’t know about the curfew was put on trial on charges of “exceeding his authority.” For the Arab community Shadmi’s trial was further salt in the wound He was sentenced to pay a symbolic fine of only a few cents Arab Israelis have not forgotten the insult of Shadmi clutching his symbolic coin as though saying this is what 49 lives are worth And some historians believe the plot went even deeper That the massacre was in fact part of a larger Though the official documents remain sealed the testimonial evidence has trickled out over the years The Israeli government did have a secret plan about some of Israel’s founding fathers advocating to get rid of local Arabs And that is a whole thorny complicated story and one that deserves its own full episode look at the sources in the show notes!) For our purposes I will say that Operation Mole’s objective was to compel Arabs to abandon their villages and end up either in detention camps in Israel’s interior the records associated with the incident remain sealed Historians and lawmakers are still petitioning the government to publicize all the information arguing that the Israeli public deserves to know all the details of what really happened the Arab community in Israel holds a day of remembrance for the 49 victims several Israeli officials – including two presidents – have attended the event and formally apologized for what happened on that day in Kfar Qassem It said that we’re just doing propaganda on Unpacking Israeli History So that’s just an important pause for the listeners out there there are lots of silly jokes I could make about Jewish guilt Don’t forget that the holiest day on our calendar is Yom Kippur – the day of atonement The day we stand in front of God and confess to the sins we’ve committed over the past year But God doesn’t forgive the sins we’ve committed against our fellow human beings how do you ask forgiveness from your neighbor The answer applies to the entire fraught and fractured history of Jews and Arabs in the Middle East I sat down with Professor Moshe Halbertal to talk about his view of forgiveness but something he said really stuck with me and is something I was thinking about in working on this episode “Part of the pain of being harmed sometimes is being isolated in your harm through an ongoing environment of denial.” That’s why I think Israeli officials are absolutely doing the right thing by apologizing for Kfar Qassem Because how can any of us – Jewish or Arab Israeli or Palestinian – ever heal if we deny the pain of the other side If we cannot stare the truth in the face and say this is what happened has repeatedly voted against a bill that would acknowledge state responsibility for the tragedy There’s power in staring history in the face towards the possibility of a better future And I have to believe that a better future is possible That both sides have the ability to acknowledge the hurts of the other by not acknowledging the Munich Massacre in 1972 atonement and forgiveness mean that you’re “not possessed by the past I have a claim against someone for harm that someone did to me or to another person I decide not to be imprisoned in my need for retribution what I want to do is free myself of the grip of the person who’s harmed me.” What would it look like if all of us in the Middle East approached our history like that If we acknowledged the harms we’ve done to one another truly and openly… and then we learned how to liberate ourselves from the past and move forward to shine a bright light on all aspects of the past Because that’s the first step in letting the past go and looking towards a brighter future So that’s the tragic story of Kfar Qassem in a nutshell but here’s the enduring lesson as I see it I don’t think you can be a pacifist if you want a Jewish state to exist in the Middle East So I understand that war – while ugly – is sometimes necessary The phrase that Benny Morris used years ago to describe the war of independence you have to break some eggs” makes me instinctively uncomfortable And I also understand that the leaders of 1950s Israel were dogged by the very real sense that the sky could fall on them at any moment That their decisions were all that stood between their people and oblivion none of that erases the fact that Israeli leaders made serious mistakes Israel’s Arabs were forced to live under martial law one IDF platoon killed 49 Israeli citizens Israel – unlike any other country in the world – isn’t allowed nuances or gray areas or moral ambiguity The other reacts in equally one-dimensional protest: no We should be able to talk about martial law without feeling like we’re questioning the legitimacy of the state Acknowledging that doesn’t take away from the Zionist project Because a morally strong country – a morally strong person – doesn’t back down from their mistakes is ever going to reconcile with our Arab neighbors then we have to be able to fully recognize the trauma that moments like Kfar Kassem inflicted Just like our neighbors will have to recognize our decades of trauma and mistrust So this mutual recognition is the only way that our fractured country will ever begin to heal Each week we bring you a wrap-up of all the best stories from Unpacked Stay in the know and feel smarter about all things Jewish What is Yom Hazikaron? How and when do we commemorate Israel’s Memorial Day? What is Yom Ha’atzmaut? When and how do we celebrate Israel’s Independence Day? Were Jews expelled from 109 countries? Shortcut strawberry shortcakes Contact UsMastheadAbout UsAuthor BiosPitch UsCareers An OpenDor Media brand © 2025 OpenDor Media At least 24 Palestinians were killed and dozens injured in Israeli airstrikes across the war-torn Gaza Strip on Sunday Seven people lost their lives and several others were injured in an Israeli strike targeting Kafr Qasim School where thousands of displaced civilians have sheltered in the Shati refugee camp Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Basal said in a statement Four more people were killed and 15 others injured in another airstrike on a house in the central city of Deir al-Balah Fighter jets hit another house north of Rafah in southern Gaza while six more lost their lives when a drone shelled a group of civilians east of the city Two more people were killed in artillery shelling in the town of Khuza'a One civilian was also killed and another injured in a drone attack west of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza Israel has continued a brutal offensive on Gaza following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire have since been killed and over 95,800 injured The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food Israel faces accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza *Writing by Ikram Kouachi and Rania Abu Shamala I think about the events that led up to the murder of my grandmother and 48 other women along with dozens of survivors who carry their trauma until today Everyone speaks of the Kafr Qasim massacre of 1956 as if it were an isolated case As if Border Police officers decided to carry out without any connection to or orders from the government echelon or military establishment Yet we tend to forget that the regime and the Zionist movement which sought to empty the land of it inhabitants One of the journalists who came to interview me in the run-up to the 60th anniversary of the Kafr Qasim massacre asked about our demands and whether we would forgive and move on if only the Israeli government would express remorse We explained that an apology is not enough I am the granddaughter of Hamisa Farg Amer My grandmother was murdered while on her way back from the olive harvest with her friends who suffered a similar fate She and her family lived in the Al-Manshiyya neighborhood when her family became refugees and fled for the ’67 territories We are in touch with some of them until today and there are some whose fate we know nothing about I think about them and about the fate of the activists who pledged to bring forth the full story of the massacre to teach their children and grandchildren about the courage necessary to demand justice paid a heavy price when they were arrested and had their homes were raided on the eve of the massacre’s commemoration In the first 20 years following the massacre when Palestinian citizens lived under military rule the military governor would issue arrest warrants for activists in order to prevent them from marching to commemorate the massacre The authorities would confiscate black flags and megaphones which were used for chanting slogans against the military government I have an answer made up of several questions: will the Israeli government recognize the ongoing injustice that the state has caused the Palestinian people since 1948 What would be the significance of such recognition Will it include remedying those injustices Will it fully recognize the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination Will it fully recognize the Palestinian people’s right to return to the land from which they were and continue to be expelled every massacre has been carried out with a single goal in mind: expulsion and oppression Reem Amer is a feminist and political activist. She is a General Coordinator at Coalition of Women for Peace. This article was first published in Hebrew on Local Call. Read it here Our team has been devastated by the horrific events of this latest war The world is reeling from Israel’s unprecedented onslaught on Gaza inflicting mass devastation and death upon besieged Palestinians as well as the atrocious attack and kidnappings by Hamas in Israel on October 7 Our hearts are with all the people and communities facing this violence We are in an extraordinarily dangerous era in Israel-Palestine The bloodshed has reached extreme levels of brutality and threatens to engulf the entire region are seizing the opportunity to intensify their attacks on Palestinians The most far-right government in Israel’s history is ramping up its policing of dissent using the cover of war to silence Palestinian citizens and left-wing Jews who object to its policies one that +972 has spent the past 14 years covering: Israeli society’s growing racism and militarism We are well positioned to cover this perilous moment – but we need your help to do it This terrible period will challenge the humanity of all of those working for a better future in this land Palestinians and Israelis are already organizing and strategizing to put up the fight of their lives Can we count on your support +972 Magazine is a leading media voice of this movement a desperately needed platform where Palestinian and Israeli journalists and thinkers can report on and analyze what is happening "\/liveblog_entry\/medics-two-people-wounded-on-roads-in-hezbollah-rocket-attack-on-central-israel\/?__cf_chl_rt_tk=Hommjyk_CEPCH5but7kJelORMmmaSEQF6.lY5LA8cpw-1746514713-1.0.1.1-WOy7BbF5hvifh.4NB3m2SpN20s_m70zEhWO7MCa7t3k" + window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUHash);cpo.onload = function() {history.replaceState(null "\/liveblog_entry\/police-rescue-lion-cub-adult-monkey-as-efforts-against-illegal-animal-trade-persist\/?__cf_chl_rt_tk=nNiAGGViwWbyl5rMdqlEUMnd3R.UcirBLvSxNvf4aaQ-1746514716-1.0.1.1-54LoxMlvdWhIXYp7JOH7RrYA6RICGwdf_hSYp_h4pQA" + window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUHash);cpo.onload = function() {history.replaceState(null "\/liveblog_entry\/kafr-qasim-mayor-arab-leadership-has-condemned-oct-7-it-goes-against-our-values-and-islam\/?__cf_chl_rt_tk=xlEJgliCeXWwH2Hl555ELcGfbNrOW9Z2ZH.JIPQvZEU-1746514718-1.0.1.1-4gwgBe_.HVYmotp6tFtmtcsOaLS33oXv2e1ixNQKT28" + window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUHash);cpo.onload = function() {history.replaceState(null under the claim that revealing them would jeopardize Israel' national security 2022Get email notification for articles from Ofer Aderet FollowJul 29 2022Newly uncovered transcripts from the trial of the infamous 1956 Kafr Qasem massacre quotes an Israeli Border Police company commander as saying that “it was desirable for there to be a number of fatalities.” Though individual soldiers were convicted in the 1956 Kafr Qasim Massacre Israel’s courts never even questioned why civilians were under military rule and curfews individual soldiers are still convicted of crimes but the occupation itself is never questioned and wrongdoing is dismissed as the work of ‘bad apples.’ an Israeli Border Police unit shot to death 49 women and children from Kafr Qasim as they returned home from a day of work in the fields was under military rule like most Palestinian villages and towns at the time From 1949 until 1966 Palestinian citizens of Israel were governed under martial law was in charge of maintaining the military imposed law and order in Palestinian population centers The day of the massacre was the first day of the 1956 Suez War Instructed to take all precautionary measures to keep the Jordanian border quiet Border Police Central District commander Col Issachar Shadmi decided to change the start time of the nightly curfew to 5 p.m The order was issued only in the early afternoon which resulted in Palestinian farmers working their fields not hearing about the change of the curfew time who was in charge of one of the battalions enforcing the curfew on the ground asked Shadmi what should be done with those who broke the curfew “Allah Yerachmu” (an Arabic blessing for the dead) Malanki passed this message to his officers instructing them “to shot to kill” every person who violates the curfew Dahan’s platoon was stationed at the entrance to Kafr Qasim As the villagers made their way back from the fields to whom they offered their identification papers dug by Palestinians from the nearby village of Jaljulya who the army brought over for that purpose They couldn’t be reached by their families due to the 24-hour curfew; only after it was lifted were they transported to the hospital Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion placed the matter under a media black out which was only lifted after two months of intense lobbying Due to public pressure 11 border police officers were charged with murder Eight were found guilty and sentenced to prison terms (Malenki was sentenced to 17 years and Dahan to 15) the court specifically stated that the soldiers had been obliged to disobey the order to shoot unarmed civilians because it was an illegal order a presidential commutation and the decision of a Prison Service committee all of the soldiers involved were freed after less than a year Malanki and Dahan were promoted after their release to higher offices in the Israeli security forces Shadmi was found guilty of extending the curfew without authority The Kafr Qasim massacre is almost completely absent from Israeli educational curriculum It is mentioned neither in history classes nor in the abundance of memorial and commemoration ceremonies that take place in Israeli schools It is only mentioned in the Israeli ‘citizenship studies’ book is only taught as part of a discussion of refusing “illegal orders.” Its de-contextualization detaching it from any discussion of the treatment of the state’s Palestinian citizens or of the military administration at the time is aimed at showing that the Kafr Qasim massacre was a unique failure of a few soldiers It is built deep into the ‘bad apple’ narrative which blames war crimes on the individual soldiers who committed them – allowing the system to wash its hands of any culpability That the public Israeli consciousness coined the term “illegal order” in the context of the Kafr Qasim massacre in a sense strips it of much of its effectiveness it needs to meet the level of horrendousness that results from a very direct the disruption and detention of farmers in the West Bank shooting at unarmed protestors and preventing of medical treatment are all seen as legal orders the Israeli court system never called into question the military’s very presence in Kafr Qasim the necessity of the curfew or the legitimacy of the military regime in place at the time in any of its criticisms and rulings on various military actions since 1967 the Israeli Supreme Court has never condemned the occupation itself By sanctioning certain actions but never doubting the greater plot line over the years the Israeli court system has in fact given its seal of approval: first to military rule over the Palestinian citizens of the state similar military rule over Palestinians in the West Bank But despite its absence from the Jewish Israeli collective memory in Kafr Qasim the massacre is still very much alive Its troubled ghosts haunt the village to this day Every resident of Kafr Qasim came out to the yearly memorial service on the anniversary of the massacre where it was the initiator.Levy confirmed that there was an explicit order to shoot anyone who broke the curfew even if they didn’t know that there was one stressing that the situation had a feeling of “war in the air.” He added that concerning the villagers who were working in the fields at the time he heard “their judgment is like everyone else’s.”The company commander added he had been told by battalion commander Shmuel Malinki “it is desirable that there be a number of casualties” and that if there were deaths on the first day it would make the rest of the curfew easier Levy said the forces were told not to put lookouts and checkpoints on the eastern side so that if the Arabs decided to flee they could and would be allowed to go over the Jordanian border.Shadmi stated that one of the reasons for the curfew was to ensure that residents didn’t see the IDF soldiers being placed near the border with Jordan and to ensure that they didn’t accidentally walk into the areas where Israeli forces were.Milinki claimed that when he asked Shadmi how to treat people coming home after the curfew “May God have mercy on them.” When asked by an attorney to clarify what he meant “The meaning is that he has a lot of chances to die” but added that this was only meant for a situation in which riots broke out.Soldiers interpreted orders "irrationally"Multiple witnesses argued that they had issued orders they thought were understandable and that it seemed the soldiers at the scene interpreted those orders “irrationally.” Shadmi stressed that he assumed any order like this was given to soldiers who “have eyes in their head and before they shoot they need to think a little.” He added that the curfew served as a substitute for the Hafarferet plan which was a list of ideas made in order to handle the “uncertain loyalties” of the Arab population.Gabriel Dahan the commander of the department operating in Kfar Qassem said he was told by Melinki “without sentiments He emphasized that there will be no murder I understood from his words that this is in accordance with the order and this murder – if I deviate from the order.”Dahan added that he entered the village after the curfew started telling a squad at the western side to allow any people who were seen coming to the village to pass without being harmed Dahan fired in the air and shouted in Arabic for them to go into their homes a squad shot and killed an Arab north of Kafr Kassem who was approaching the village.The commander added that within the next half hour he heard shots throughout the village and found at least 30 Arabs killed on the western side The police officer stationed there told him that he told them to get out of their cars and that they had proceeded to run away so he shot and killed them Dahan stated that the officer was known to him as a “hot-tempered guy” who had used his weapon carelessly several times View of the Israeli-Arab town of Kfar Kassem (credit: MOSHE SHAI/FLASH90)Israel must acknowledge responsibility Arab MKs sayJoint List MK Aida Touma-Sliman responded to the release of the protocols on Friday “Today what we said from the first day was revealed: The shocking massacre in Kafr Kassem in 1956 was a deliberate murder part of a plan to deport the residents of the Triangle!“The published protocols prove that Israel not only murdered 50 Arab citizens in cold blood but also planned the ‘establishment of pens’ and the ‘transfer of the people’ – not only in 1948 but also under the military regime in the 1950s,” she said.על מדינת ישראל להכיר באחריותה באופן רשמי לטבח הכרה בפשעי העבר היא שלב הכרחי בדרך לתיקון העוול ההיסטורי והבסיס לעתיד משותף View this post on Instagram A post shared by Beach Soccer Worldwide (@beachsoccerworldwide) As long as police continue to see Palestinian citizens of Israel as ‘the enemy,’ the deadly shootings — and the ever-deepening crisis in relations — will continue An Israeli security guard shot and killed 28-year-old Mahmoud Mahmoud Salim Taha Disturbances had broken out while police were arresting another resident of the town a security guard at the police station opened fire on Taha Over 30 Palestinian citizens of Israel have been killed in violent episodes since the start of the year Arab and mixed towns across the country have seen protests against police ineffectiveness against the increasing violence and murder rate in the community Leaders and regular citizens have pleaded endlessly for the police to start properly tackling the organized crime and hoards of weapons that threaten Palestinian society There is also Palestinians’ complete lack of faith in the authorities, above all the police. And that lack of faith is justified: 48 Palestinian citizens of Israel have been shot and killed by police since 2000 according to Mossawa Center — The Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens in Israel Monday night’s incident in Kafr Qasim, which came less than six months after the deadly events in Umm al-Hiran is yet another assault by police on already frail relations On the one hand the police talk about creating trust; on the other, they behave, at best, like a bull in a china shop, and routinely treat Arab citizens like the enemy. When do they ever shoot other protesters, even if they throw stones and burn cars? Without minimizing the police violence against ultra-Orthodox protesters in Jerusalem over the last few weeks not a single officer drew their weapon and opened fire even as the police put out dramatic statements about ultra-Orthodox rioting and stone-throwing As long as the police don’t change their perception of Palestinians, no cosmetic plan to improve relations will work. But change is unlikely as long as the police commissioner is an ex-Shin Bet Netanyahu ally, who shares the prime minister’s belief that — unless proven otherwise — all Arabs are ISIS Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan continues to act like a spokesperson for the police Speaking on Tuesday morning about the incident in Kafr Qasim he said: “No claim against the Israel Police justifies violence against police officers and the torching of police cars to the extent that they feel their lives are in danger Nowhere normal would see a police arrest justify dozens or hundreds of people trying to violently prize the arrestee from the officers.” However, since he was never held publicly accountable for his despicable behavior following the killing of Yacoub Abu al-Qi’an in the Bedouin village of Umm al-Hiran in January Erdan is allowing himself to revert to the same behavioral patterns: backing the police and armed security forces before the incident has even been investigated the position Erdan holds was called the “Minister of Police.” The semantic change to “Public Security Minister” was meant to reflect a deep moral change in the position itself: no longer would the minister represent the police and its interests in the government; instead it would represent the security of the citizens Citizens such as Yacoub Abu al-Qi’an and Muhammad Mahmoud Salim Taha Even if all the details of the incident have yet to come to light a citizen killed by police during clashes is a severe issue Erdan’s claim that the violence overnight was “life threatening” is an attempt to create facts on the ground This is reminiscent of the way Erdan labeled Abu al-Qi’an a “terrorist” long before anyone knew what had happened in Umm al-Hiran and his insistence on continuing to label him as such even after it became clear that the police had blatantly lied If Erdan already knows to say that Taha’s death stemmed from a “life-threatening feeling,” then he has absolved himself of any responsibility rendering the investigation superfluous before it even started Back to the good old days of the Minister of Police who has lost all credibility and soundness of judgement cannot be the minister who oversees this investigation The Israel Police were quick to shake off responsibility for the killing in Kafr Qasim instead emphasizing in a statement that the shooter was a civilian security guard How can it be that a civilian security guard is sent to guard a police station and thus saves the police from taking responsibility an Israeli coalition of groups that seeks to restrict security guards from bringing home their guns from their work sites explains: “The role of securing Israeli police stations is often placed in the hands of private security companies This is one of the ways in which the police and state itself absolve themselves of responsibility and accountability for using organized violence.” The fact that the police are protected by civilians and who are not subject to the same regulations security officers will simply not know how to act properly and will quickly feel that they are “in danger.” Yael Marom is Just Vision’s public engagement manager in Israel and a co-editor of Local Call, where this article was originally published in Hebrew Yali (Yael) Marom is an independent journalist based in Israel and a translator of Farsi poetry and prose She is the chair of B’Tselem’s executive board and an activist with the Balad political party Her writing deals with the lines that intersect and define her identity as Mizrahi a temporary migrant living inside a perpetual immigrant leader of the southern branch of the Islamic Movement considers himself to be a traditionally observant Muslim and said he had previously been a part of the movement at a lower level He believes that in local elections “the Islamic Movement goes with the strong candidate; they don’t want to lose,” and compared the movement to an army with one leader: “If you don’t follow orders you are removed.” The Islamic Movement’s quest for power and its immersion in politics has alienated many traditional Muslims a doctoral candidate at Bar-Ilan University who considers herself to be traditional “The Islamic Movement is all about politics and increasing its economic power and control Rodayna continued by alleging that the newly elected mayor himself a member of the southern branch of the Islamic Movement has appointed fellow members to most key municipal positions who considers herself to be a traditional Muslim despite her non-religious dress (Unlike religious Jews most Muslims in Israel define themselves as traditional Muslims even if their dress and appearance are not traditional) “The Islamic Movement is like a state within a state,” suffering from corruption and nepotism.One individual is well connected in the city and has access to information coming from both the Islamic Movement and the municipality The source alleged that the Islamic Movement had infiltrated the city’s educational institutions and was funneling money from the city budget to affiliated organizations and companies.The source said that the movement has an NGO called qalam who lives in the city and is the deputy leader of the southern branch of the Islamic Movement “is seen all the time in the schools and nobody can say anything or tell him to leave,” said the source who added that “he [Freij] is the actual mayor.” In other words the national figure and religious authority from the Islamic Movement is allegedly dictating policies and decisions to the mayor The source explained that Freij owns a business which has received many government contracts from the municipality Around 95% of the licensed day care centers in Kafr Qasim are allegedly operated by his firm The source also claimed that Freij chose the manager of the city's community center and that Freij's company or other affiliated subsidiaries under his control are frequently hired by the municipality to provide infrastructure repair and other services.One recent event that angered many traditional Muslim residents of Kafr Qasim occurred during the recent march held on October 29 to memorialize the 1956 massacre of local residents at the hands of Israel Border Police The organization of the memorial march was handled by the city Because of the fact that the city is essentially controlled by the Islamic Movement the group was able to impose its values onto the event and the people that had organized it for years were pushed out in favor of Islamic Movement members or allies “There are suspicions that the Islamic Movement took the money allocated for the event and then cheaply held it so that a profit would be made.” The source also alleged that the mayor allowed the Islamic Movement leadership to decide how to distribute the city’s funds “It is like if Bibi [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] told the Likud party to manage the state’s budget for Independence Day.”“It was supposed to be for the city and the victims but instead it was for the Islamic Movement,” charged the source the Islamic Movement wanted women to dress modestly and without makeup The Islamic Movement wants their norms to obligate everyone like a dictatorship and the Israeli media give the movement support by interviewing its members.” In other words the movement sought to turn the memorial rally from an Arab national event to one dedicated to the Islamic Movement.However whose opinion represents those that oppose the Islamic Movement in the city Nobody can argue with Muhammad or the Quran and they use it to promote their political purposes.” Using the language of religion gives the Islamic Movement special legitimacy forcing those that oppose the group to avoid appearing to be countering Islam itself This appears to create a difficulty for traditional Muslims that oppose the movement They have all of the power in Kafr Qasim,” concluded the source and despite the fact that the group’s leaders are careful not to explicitly state this directly in public The southern branch of the Islamic Movement now struggles to balance its long-term strategic goal for power and Islamization of the Arab sector with its short-term tactical policy of finding a middle path that does not push things too far too soon Some current and former southern branch members in Kafr Qasim downplay the differences between the northern and southern branches calling the differences “political” or based on personal struggles for power Though the southern branch publicly participates in politics and follows “the rules of the game,” behind the scenes the group is working diligently to build its grassroots power based on its Islamist message Ariel Ben Solomon is a writer on Middle East affairs He covered Israeli Arab issues for The Jerusalem Post and is now writing a PhD dissertation at Bar-Ilan University on how kinship groups interact with the Islamic Movement in Israel “The Islamic Movement in Israel: Kinship Groups and the Internal Ideological Struggle.” [1] Nohad Ali, "Doing God's Work: A Look at the Islamic Movement in Israel," +972 Magazine, March 13, 2015 Accessed January 15, 2017, https://972mag.com/doing-gods-work-a-look-at-the-islamic-movement-in-israel/104201 [2] Cole Bunzel From Paper State to Caliphate: The Ideology of the Islamic State (The Brookings Project on U.S March 2015); Abd al-Monein Said Aly and Manfred W "Modern Islamic Reform Movements: The Muslim Brotherhood in Contemporary Egypt." The Middle East Journal [3] Itamar Eichner, Hassan Shaalan, Yoav Zitun, "Israel bans northern branch of Islamic Movement," Ynetnews.com, November 17, 2016. accessed January 15, 2017, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4726750,00.html [4] Nohad Ali "Doing God's Work: A Look at the Islamic Movement in Israel." [5] Ariel Ben Solomon, “17% of Israeli Arabs support ISIS, expert says,” The Jerusalem Post, November 22, 2015, http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Parts-of-Arab-population-support-ISIS-despite-official-opposition-expert-says-434969 [6] Emanuel Sivan "The Islamic Resurgence: Civil Society Strikes Back," Journal of Contemporary History Tuesday World Subscribers only In Zurich the leaf blower war or the anti-'woke' backlash World Subscribers only Germany's Friedrich Merz is embracing pragmatism World Subscribers only Trump-Carney meeting: Canada seeks reconciliation World Subscribers only Friedrich Merz bets on two private sector converts to revive the German economy and reform the state World Subscribers only Founder of Sant'Egidio community fears next pope could undo Francis's legacy Opinion Subscribers only 'Russian gas and Europe is an old story that ended badly Economy Subscribers only Europe's steel industry flattened by crisis World Subscribers only How European countries 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anniversary of Israel's independence on May 7 AFP Everyone in Israel has heard of the Kafr Qasim massacre The Israeli authorities made an official apology for the 1956 killing in which 48 Palestinians were shot dead by soldiers for breaking a curfew that they didn't even know about It is engraved in collective memory as an indelible error whose perpetrators were brought to trial and punished But the publication on July 27 of part of the 7,000-page transcript for the 1957 trial of 11 of the Israeli soldiers involved in the massacre reveals a quite different scenario The documents show that the soldiers thought they were part of a plan to forcibly drive out Palestinians from the center of the country to the neighboring West Bank dubbed the "Chafarperet" ("the mole" in Hebrew) the forced exodus of 700,000 Palestinians when the state of Israel was created a few hours before the massacre at Kafr Qasim and former mayor of the town of Kafr Qasim Twelve of his family members were killed in the massacre "The massacre wasn't a mistake by a handful of soldiers that this killing was part of a carefully thought-out plan designed by the most senior Israeli officials of the time," including the then-prime minister David Ben-Gurion You have 65.38% of this article left to read Lecture du Monde en cours sur un autre appareil Vous pouvez lire Le Monde sur un seul appareil à la fois Ce message s’affichera sur l’autre appareil Parce qu’une autre personne (ou vous) est en train de lire Le Monde avec ce compte sur un autre appareil Vous ne pouvez lire Le Monde que sur un seul appareil à la fois (ordinateur En cliquant sur « Continuer à lire ici » et en vous assurant que vous êtes la seule personne à consulter Le Monde avec ce compte Que se passera-t-il si vous continuez à lire ici Ce dernier restera connecté avec ce compte Vous pouvez vous connecter avec votre compte sur autant d’appareils que vous le souhaitez mais en les utilisant à des moments différents Nous vous conseillons de modifier votre mot de passe Votre abonnement n’autorise pas la lecture de cet article merci de contacter notre service commercial Thousands of Palestinian citizens of Israel marched on Friday to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the Kafr Qasim massacre The marchers gathered at the Martyrs' Memorial in Kafr Qasim's center where a minute of silence was observed to remember the victims Israeli forces killed 49 unarmed Palestinians and pictures of those killed in the massacre The march was attended by Arab leaders and representatives in Israel's unicameral parliament Some of the banners read: “The 65th Anniversary of the Kafr Qasim massacre,” “We will not reconcile,” and “We will not forgive." rejected a bill that would have officially acknowledged Israel's full responsibility for the massacre Kafr Qasim Mayor Adel Badir said the "horrific" massacre” should unite all Arabs in Israel "We still face challenges but we will continue to hold out hope in our hearts for a tomorrow when we will enjoy security head of the Higher Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel the highest representative body of the Arab public in Israel said he spoke with Israeli President Isaac Herzog ahead of his visit to Kafr Qasim and urged him to acknowledge responsibility for the massacre "I hope he will stand here and announce that the State of Israel accepts responsibility for the massacre," the mayor said "This massacre was not a defect in the Zionist project What was not completed in the Nakba of 1948 against the Palestinian people they wanted to complete it in this region in 1956." The massacre was aimed at expelling the remaining Palestinians from their homeland was preparing to launch an attack on Egypt to regain western control of the Suez Canal the Israeli army decided to move up the start time of a curfew in the village without informing local residents The border policemen involved in the shooting were tried and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 8 to 17 years all were released two years after the massacre while the brigade commander was ordered to pay a fine of one piaster *Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar in Ankara​​​​​​​ Site developed by     Copyright © Yedioth Internet own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment University of St Andrews provides funding as a member of The Conversation UK View all partners October 2016 marks the 60th anniversary of one of the key events in Jewish-Arab history within Israel: the Kafr Qasim massacre of 1956, in which 49 women, men and children were shot dead by an army unit instructed to kill all breakers of a badly implemented curfew. This event is not part of the national Israeli calendar. It is mentioned only in passing as a “bad apple” in the national story As far as Palestinian Israelis are concerned the impunity enjoyed by its perpetrators and the Israeli state’s failure to go beyond cynical gestures and officially recognise it as a crime have left a gaping wound in Jewish-Palestinian relations Histories of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict often neglect the Palestinian population that remained in Israel after it was formally created – and in particular surprisingly little is said or written about the extended period highly restrictive military rule imposed on them between 1948 and 1966 Palestinians living within Israel were deemed a “security threat” and were required to obtain official permits for travel outside designated areas It was in this charged atmosphere that the massacre took place On 29 October 1956, the Suez crisis was about to reach its peak In collusion with the French and the British Israeli forces were preparing to storm south through the Sinai The army also feared a possible conflict with Jordan in the east as well with tensions running high along the Green Line between the Israel and Jordanian West Bank decided to that the regular nightly curfew on the Palestinian villages that usually started at 9pm would commence at 5pm But this decision was taken at 1pm that same day – by which time many of the Palestinian villagers were out in their fields Asked by his soldiers what would become of people caught outside during the curfew Shadmi infamously replied “Allah Yarhamhu” (“god have mercy on him”) His commanders understood this as an instruction to execute anyone caught outside during the curfew Two of the three units given the orders ignored them but the third shot dead 49 people in Kafr Qasim Witness testimonies detailed the cruel executions of people who were not aware they were breaking any rule Among those shot at close range were 23 children The massacre only became public thanks to Knesset members on the far left who used their immunity to publicise the event in the Israeli Knesset in spite of an official news blackout Only six weeks after the massacre did the Israeli prime minister a protracted nine-month trial began at the military court The offending unit was not part of the Israel Defence Forces but of the newly formed “border patrol” – and the authorities put the blame for the massacre squarely on the soldiers who committed it Of the 11 defendants accused of taking part in the massacre was tried separately and was ultimately fined one hundredth of an Israeli Lira then roughly the equivalent of an American penny Palestinian Israelis remember the sentence as Qirsh-Shadmi or “Shadmi’s Penny” – a measure of how much the Israeli state values Palestinian lives the trials did establish a legal precedent that Israeli soldiers are obliged to defy “blatantly illegal orders” such as the one Shadmi gave which the local leaders of Kafr Qasim were more or less coerced into attending The massacre still isn’t accorded much of a place in Israel’s national historiography. Efforts to change that are still underway. In 2015, Palestinian Knesset member Aida Touma Souliman proposed legislation that would officially recognise the Kafr-Qassim massacre and introduce it to the national canon with an official commemorative date and a school hour devoted to the subject. She explained: Our will for recognition is not to know the facts … we ask for recognition to know that there is a political decision towards a new political direction that builds a new relationship between the state and its Arab population There are a lot of different ways to contextualise and analyse the legacy of the Kafr-Qassem massacre in contemporary Israel, especially in light of the recent spate of extrajudicial killings and certainly in light of the 60-year commemoration of the Suez war But on this non-state-sanctioned remembrance-day it might be wise remember the words of Polish poet Zbegniew Herbert: “ignorance about those who are lost undermines the reality of the world.” Declassified documents have revealed fresh details on the planned murder of Palestinian civilians during the Kafr Qasem massacre when an Israeli commander advised troops that "it was desirable for there to be a number of fatalities" were killed by Israeli troops as they returned home from work They had no knowledge the village had been placed under curfew According to the trial transcripts of Chaim Levy who commanded the Israeli army in Kafr Qasem the troops knew their victims were unarmed civilians who had not been informed about the curfew "The same goes for them as anyone else," Levy said he was told by a commander regarding the civilians Levy was asked: "Doesn't your reason tell you that 'violating a curfew' means by someone who knows that there is a curfew?" Levy said he agreed Later he was asked: "How can you say that someone told you to kill people who don't know that there is a curfew?" To which he replied: "Because I was given such an order.. Kafr Qasem is a Palestinian village that was taken by Israel after the Nakba in 1948 Palestinians in the village were subjected to military rule and came under constant pressure by Israeli authorities to leave their homes At the outbreak of the Suez Crisis on Monday along with other Palestinian villages bordering Jordan civilians returning home from work were gunned down at close range by Israeli troops The massacre sparked international outrage and led to a landmark trial of the Israeli troops the Israeli government refused to release transcripts of the court proceedings The documents also reveal a new link between the massacre and a secret Israeli plan to deport Palestinians of the Little Triangle area in central Israel to Jordan Levy's testimony offers a detailed account of how Israeli officers appear to have used tensions during the Suez crisis to orchestrate the removal of Palestinians from their villages.  Levy refers to plans of "creating enclosures" and "transporting people," which could be interpreted to mean the detention of Palestinians in camps or expulsion from their homeland He also said he was informed by his commander not to station troops along the village's eastern border facing Jordan in an effort to push fleeing Palestinians out of Israel "I understood that it would be no great calamity if they took this opportunity to go away," he said Levy said he understood there was a direct link between shooting curfew violators and changing Israel's demographic make-up part of the population would get scared and decide that it's best to live on the other side The testimony of district commander Issachar Shadmi appeared to corroborate Levy's understanding of the massacre Shadmi said it was no secret Israel "heavily encouraged" Palestinians to leave its borders "The killing of a few people as an intimidation measure can encourage movement eastward as long as we hint to them [the Palestinians] about the movement eastward," he said Another Israeli soldier said the intention of the curfew was to intimidate the Palestinians "The immediate goal is to keep them in their houses and the second goal is to not need to intimidate them in the future as well as to require less manpower because they will eventually be like innocent sheep," one of the soldiers testified He added that a major-general in the Israeli army said it would be "desirable" to have casualties to instil fear in the Palestinian population to which he replied: "It would be best to knock out a few people.. so that in the future there would be quiet and we would not need to have this much manpower overseeing these villages." The release of the report was welcomed by Palestinian and Israeli lawmakers "Today what we said from the first day was revealed: the shocking massacre in Kfar Kassem in 1956 was a deliberate murder part of a plan to deport the residents of the Triangle," Joint List legislator Aida Touma-Suleiman said "The published protocols prove that Israel not only murdered 50 Arab citizens in cold blood but also planned the 'establishment of pens' and the 'transfer of the people,' not only in 1948 but also under the military regime in the 1950s." Regional Cooperation Minister and Kafr Qasem resident Esawi Freige said after the release of the transcripts: "I'm finally reading the words I dreamt to read my entire life on Kafr Qasem's eastern gate that was left open in the hope that the survivors would get the message and run away our government wished to hide the truth from us about the massacre that hurt every family in Kafr Qasem This article is available in French on Middle East Eye French edition Copyright © 2014 - 2025. Middle East Eye Only England and Wales jurisdiction apply in all legal matters Middle East Eye          ISSN 2634-2456                      "\/liveblog_entry\/arab-israeli-soccer-teams-begin-match-with-tribute-to-victims-of-oct-7-hamas-onslaught\/?__cf_chl_rt_tk=zb3vbkdZS2qiBco3yGKcJohclaqX6a2mKrLBoByHgu0-1746514783-1.0.1.1-8NFz6LyjO5ZRbSGv5fipnCo3lJXP_F96UNK.Pd8ltIw" + window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUHash);cpo.onload = function() {history.replaceState(null The Palestinian man killed in Kafr Qasim this week was just the latest casualty of a colonial system whose masters feel forever threatened by the natives they rule over The killing of a Palestinian man in Kafr Qasim by an Israeli security guard earlier this week was more than just a regrettable incident that raised questions about police conduct It was also a near-exact repetition of other such episodes in which the victim was Palestinian and the killer a member of the security forces Fifty-two young Arab citizens have been shot dead by Israeli security forces since October 2000 They are classified in legal terms as separate cases These killings are part of an ongoing phenomenon — a creeping process that has resulted not from the conduct of native Palestinian Arabs but from the structural relations between them and Jewish society which adopted a colonialist approach toward the native Arab population in the region And added to it will be the Kafr Qasim security guard’s defense attorney’s claim: “If the security guard hadn’t opened fire always assert themselves as a paradigm in which the Jewish “master” feels endlessly feels threatened by any movement which is particularly conspicuous to the Arab Palestinian public It’s no stretch to say that this army gear is intended to oppress those very natives who are the source of this constant threat especially if they don’t acquiesce to the aggressive and provocative actions of a police officer who feels like a God compared to them The assumption is that they must surrender and obey This threat can always be “neutralized” (read: killed) by frightened people with sophisticated weapons even if they are supposed to be maintaining their longed-for security the rulers will always try to subordinate the natives to “their” agenda those same natives will believe them weak and cowardly the ruler has to deter the natives by applying force every now and then in order to exact further casualties among the natives This is why investigations into killings by security forces are always closed — not because there’s no guilty party but because they have been helped along by a system whose purpose is to guarantee control over the natives In the age of “fake news,” the ruling establishment and journalists carry out this task gladly legal and governmental structures created by colonialism generate endless day-to-day practicalities It creates a walled-off discourse in which every statement is known in advance and in which people drunk on power and a sense of their own dominance nonetheless feel constantly threatened and afraid And all the while they are faced by people who have been robbed of human dignity I am well aware that there are relatively broad circles trying to free Israel from the grip of the colonialist mindset while working towards an agreement and coexistence in the region when Israel’s current mode of rule is in keeping with British colonial practices in India The government and its various arms have created this reality through consistent and there is no choice left to us now but to call it by its name The killing in Kfar Qasim was not the last of its kind Whoever wants to live in this place must turn their efforts toward building a life Marzuq Al-Halabi is a jurist, journalist, author. He writes regularly for Al-Hayat. This post was originally published in Hebrew on Local Call When I first accepted the challenge of drawing the Kafr Qasem massacre I wanted to represent its events as though I were a camera on site could recreate what photography might have given us if done on a historical basis I would learn all I could and present the specific individuals and the documented events I worked on the project in three major periods each occupying most of a year or several years I began work in 1999 and continued into 2000 on the occasion of the fiftieth memorial of the massacre I created both a web page and an exhibition of the drawings I returned to the project with the intention of finalizing it by making large-scale drawings and developing a book The story of the Kafr Qasem massacre is compelling it was members of the Communist Party who broke the military and information blockade in order to call attention to the horrific massacre; a detailed press release was finally published by party member Tawfiq Toubi twenty-six days after the massacre on 23 November Emile Habibi covered the massacre in issues of the CP organ and in 1976 published a booklet on the subject Habibi recounted the events and provided a structure whereby the chronology of events were numbered and termed “waves” of killing Israel’s military campaign against Egypt and the Suez started at 3pm on 29 October the mukhtar (mayor) of Kafr Qasem was informed of an imminent curfew to begin at 5pm Twenty-five minutes after this sudden warning soldiers of the Israeli Border Police began killing anyone they found outside their home—be they man or woman forty-nine civilians lay dead on the roadways Although each event of the massacre was nightmarish the last one seemed to shock the villagers most of all as fourteen women who had been olive picking were forced off a truck and shot at continuously from close range until they all fell dead over each other The sole survivor of this wave of killing was a fifteen-year-old girl and lay under the corpses of the other women for most of the night the Israelis buried their bodies while their relatives were imprisoned in their homes on pain of death through the use of a twenty-four hour curfew A massacre is like a hammer blow that shatters a hard mass to smithereens do not all see who wields the hammer nor are they able to attack it is the poverty and depression resulting from a brutal military occupation What does a father tell his wife when he returns home alive but their eight-year old child whom she sent to warn him dies in the massacre Why is a small girl unable to tell her mother that her father lies dead or wounded in the street except to say that dinner need not be prepared for him return to the scenes of the massacre to confirm its reality with those who shared it only to find death instead of fellowship Why was the only survivor of one of the events of the massacre insensitively asked why she was the only one to survive return on seeing the Israeli soldiers killing fourteen women only to be shot dead himself Why did some whisper that the pregnant woman in her final month dropped the baby in the agony of her death the beautiful scent of revolution permeated her words and manners We had met through the internet and from her first visit to my loft she began to persuade me that Aishy and I eventually visited Kafr Qasem together where she introduced me to her large family and friends and opened the way for me into a tightly knit village society made up of only five extended families After interviewing some individuals several times over a period of thirteen years during my last visit to attend the annual memorial march I found myself receiving extended interviews while members of the press were disregarded I conducted extensive research for historical materials and found a gold mine in the locally published magazine each October issue of which is dedicated to the massacre In it are countless long interviews conducted by Majd Sarsour editor and principal of one of the town’s high schools the outside press did not match this valuable source of detailed information It was rare to find newspaper articles that contained more than small bits of quoted information Yet Al-Shorok allowed each individual to fully tell his or her story Al-Shorok also insisted on detailing not only the names of victims and their ages and their ages at the time of the parents’ death the magazine detailed the ages of over four thousand offspring of the victims who had already given birth An intense need to replenish the village overtook the survivors regardless of its various types and admire the combination of earthy nobility I learnt of the depth of pain they experienced causing many to be unwilling to tell their stories I learnt to value their trust and grew to understand that documentation should respectfully memorialize I began drawing immediately after the first visit and continued to do so in separate periods of intense focus many of my initial aesthetic decisions matured I determined that I would avoid simply showing piles of dead bodies I would show people in their dignity at the last moments of their life I determined that the individual victims should face out towards the viewer be in control of the aesthetic situation if not the original situation I began drawing in an illusionist way in the traditions of Renaissance art I often questioned whether I perhaps should use an expressionist method I admired Diego Rivera and thought that working in that manner which many of the Palestinian artists of the Intifada were influenced by I decided that the expressionism and semi-cubist style of Rivera did not suite the ambition of presenting people as specific individuals in documented events There is a paucity of visual information on the massacre leaving written material as the basic source Transforming verbal description and researched information into visual images presented serious problems Words can focus on one subject and describe it accurately but not wholly. Pictures describe a scene wholly (from one point of view) but cannot show what happened just before or after Pictures lack the specificity of time while words lack the specificity of space Truthful witness statements can hold up in a court of law but they lack the type of information pictures need regarding the appearance of a whole scene This forced me into a certain amount of invention which seriously conditioned my ambition to be a camera.  One of my initial inquiries was how to represent the killers the soldiers of the Israeli Border Police who had executed the massacre Based on things that I have seen in Palestine combined with my loathing I decided that the story was not about them and eliminated them from the drawings. However I included fragments of them in outlined silhouette although I rendered their weapons carefully By then I had researched the weapons and noted that they were semi-automatic weapons and that some of them were British made reminding me of the part British colonialism had in arming and organizing the Zionist terrorists I asked for a great deal of criticism from residents of Kafr Qasem and from friends I was not on a research mission to discover new formal languages but rather on a mission to tell a piece of Palestinian history in comprehensible visual form I received a rating of seventy over one hundred on my drawing of the sixth wave of killing I was flattered to have such a high grade for the man grading me a man who lived his entire life immersed in the history of the massacre.  An inner voice says: do it all over again and do it better. But another voice says: another way to fail is to disregard time I will be happy when my planned publication of drawings on the subject of the massacre is complete The book will be called “Drawing the Kafr Qasem Massacre.” It will include a detailed history  Below is a selection of drawings from the series with the artist`s captions:                                                                  [The Kafr Qasem Massacre of 1956 Israeli Border Police killed forty-nine people in the Palestinian village of Kafr Qasem They were mostly workers and children returning home in the evening while inside the village it began when eight-year-old Talal Easa went out to retrieve a goat after the suddenly announced curfew ran to their bleeding family and suffered the same fate bleeding until morning when they were hauled off by truck to a hospital was left alone and saw the massacre of his family                                                                         [The Kafr Qasem Massacre of 1956 Killing in the Northern Fields (2012).]  three shepherd boys were out watering the family’s flock of sheep not knowing that Israel had launched a surprise attack on Egypt just hours before nor did they know of the curfew imposed on their village Abdallah Easa was sixteen and the youngest their uncle who was thirty-five years of age had learnt of the curfew and left the safety of his home to bring them back They returned immediately with Ibraheem leading Abed and Abdallah were just behind him while the third boy The boys were met by Israeli soldiers of the Border Police Sami saw them being shot and fell to the ground                                                                                    [The Kafr Qasem Massacre four quarry workers were returning home to Kafr Qasem on bicycles an order to "harvest them" was given Mahmoud was wounded in the thigh and managed to crawl to an olive tree and hide until morning                                                                      [The Kafr Qasem Massacre of 1956 was leading his family’s herd of black goats home after pasture His father was driving the herd from the rear having heard of the curfew and had come to hurry his son home There were three weapons in the hands of the Israeli Border Police all aimed at the boy                                                                         [The Kafr Qasem Massacre of 1956 Evening was darkening as the Israeli Border Police ordered thirteen or more workers to lineup on one side of the road They had arrived on bicycles and a mule wagon They had heard about the curfew and only feared a beating When the execution style shooting began six fell dead gritting his teeth in spite of extreme pain He witnessed the rest of the massacre and later crawled to safety                                                                 [The Kafr Qasem Massacre of 1956 Night had fallen when the truck arrived at the location of the massacre Among the victims of the ninth wave were two men in the cab of the truck and fourteen women with two boys in the back thus alerting the recumbent soldiers resting at the school’s well who said that the women clung to each other for protection even the two girls who had managed to escape returned to the circle they turned in a big group and one by one they fell The soldiers continued shooting into their heads to insure their death How does it measure western civilization when soldiers of the Israeli border police line up defenseless women—some pregnant returning home from work—and kill them with cold deliberation?   *All images copyright the artist.  2022 (WAFA) – A series of newly released documents have uncovered fresh details on the premediated murder of 49 Palestinian civilians at the hands of Israeli forces during the bloody massacre in the village of Kafr Qasem northeast of the coastal city of Tel Aviv in the occupied territories Israeli border guards gunned down 49 Palestinian villagers in the village of Kafr Qasem as they worked in their fields The farmers were unaware that Israel had placed the region under a curfew during the run-up to the Suez campaign against Egypt According to the trial transcripts of Chaim Levy who commanded the Israeli army in Kafr Qasem the Israeli troops knew their victims were unarmed civilians and were unaware that the regime had imposed a strict curfew in the area according to documents unveiled yesterday by the so-called Israeli Military Court of Appeals “The same goes for them as anyone else,” Levy said he was told by a commander “Doesn’t your reason tell you that ‘violating a curfew’ means by someone who knows that there is a curfew?” Levy said he agreed “How can you say that someone told you to kill people who don’t know that there is a curfew?” To which he replied “Because I was given such an order… Today I find this unreasonable The documents also disclose a new connection between the massacre and a secret Israeli plan to uproot Palestinians from their homes by force of arms and threat of imminent slaughter Levy’s testimony offers a detailed account of how Israeli officers appear to have used tensions during the Suez crisis to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from their villages Levy refers to plans of “creating enclosures” and “transporting people” which could be interpreted to mean the detention of Palestinians in camps or expulsion from their homeland He also said he was told by his commander not to station troops along the village’s eastern border facing Jordan “I understood that it would be no great calamity if they took this opportunity to go away,” he said Levy said he understood there was a direct link between shooting curfew violators and changing Israel’s demographic makeup part of the population would get scared and decide that it’s best to live on the other side That’s how I interpret it,” he said Create an account for a 7-day trial to access this article and all of AL-Monitor For subscription inquiries, please contact subscription.support@al-monitor.com For all other inquiries, please use contactus@al-monitor.com 2021 (WAFA) – Rise in crime in Palestinian communities inside Israel has claimed the life of 18-year-old Ahmad Shadi Essa who was declared dead this morning after he was stabbed and critically wounded last night in the central town of Kafr Qasim He is victim number 49 of this wave of crime since the start of this year also sustained serious injuries after being stabbed by assailants in the village of Drijat No perpetrators were detained by the Israeli Police in any of the two incidents Palestinians in Israel have blamed the Israeli Police for not taking any serious action to fight the rise in crime in their communities and failing to arrest anyone involved in the shootings or stabbings that often lead to death saying that if this was the case in Jewish cities the police would have acted swiftly and effectively to apprehend criminals police have their hands tied in dealing with violent crimes in the Arab communities because the criminals are in most cases informants for the Israeli security service and therefore cannot be apprehended by the police Palestinians in today's Israel are those who stayed on their land following the creation of the occupying state in 1948 and their descendants They make up about 20 percent of the country's nine million people their rights are equal to those of Jewish citizens But in practice they suffer discrimination in employment Palestinians have long blamed the Israeli police for turning a blind eye to gun violence among Palestinian-Israelis and even complicity with criminal gangs He was acquitted of charges of murder over the killing of around 50 Israeli Arabs in 1956 Israel’s Defence Ministry has released most of the transcripts and primary documents submitted during the trial of officers responsible for the Kafr Qasem massacre of 50 Palestinian citizens in 1956 The documents have been released after years-long efforts by historian Adam Raz of the Akevot Institute for Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Research to expose the truth The Kafr Qasem massacre was one of scores of killings of defenceless Palestinians by Israeli forces aimed at establishing the State of Israel via the systematic expulsion of the Palestinian people that continues to this day involves horrific mass killings and atrocities the transcripts reveal the government’s plan to exploit Israel’s planned invasion of Egypt as the pretext to drive out Israel’s Palestinian residents Britain and France invaded Egypt in October-November 1956 to overthrow the regime of President Gamal Abdul Nasser who had nationalized the Suez Canal The silence of the world’s media over the release of such explosive military and court documents is testimony to the backing Israel receives from the major imperialist powers and their own disdain for and flagrant violation of international humanitarian law Israel decided to bring forward a night time curfew from 9pm to 5pm with immediate effect across Israel’s Arab towns situated in the Northern Triangle area Long considered a “hostile population,” the residents had been subject to military rule that would continue until 1966 While Israeli authorities feared a Palestinian insurgency against the Suez campaign—the first of a series of wars with Israel’s Arab neighbours—Israeli Palestinians never participated in any action against Israel Israel’s murderous assault last year on Gaza provoked the first ever protests by Israel’s Palestinian citizens Despite being warned by the mayor that 400 residents working in agriculture would be unaware of the new curfew Israeli troops fired on the returning villagers including six women and 13 children under 15 Israeli commander Colonel Yissachar Shadmi had ordered Major Shmuel Malinki chief of the border police responsible for Kafr Qasem to shoot on sight anyone who was found outside their home Malinki said that Shadmi had told him it would be a good example if the soldiers were to shoot some Arab citizens they can be in their homes and do as they desire… but whomever is seen outside and then they will learn for the next time.” The press was subject to a gag order preventing all reporting on the massacre journalists were not allowed to go to the village It was only after sustained pressure that the perpetrators of the massacre were charged One third of the evidence was heard in secret The court convicted eight of the eleven IDF officers and soldiers sentencing them to short terms of imprisonment that were later commuted by the president and chief of staff was cleared of murder and convicted on a minor charge symbolising the value of Palestinian lives under David Ben-Gurion’s Labour government Ben Gurion had promised Shadmi the best legal team and no prison sentence if he cooperated The trials shielded Israel’s security and political chiefs from any responsibility—in the face of calls for more senior officials to be prosecuted—and appeased international public opinion The Israeli state wanted to prevent the case from reaching the International Court of Justice established by the United Nations following World War II some of the defendants had tried to argue they were only implementing Operation Hafeperet (Mole) but were silenced when they explained that this involved imprisoning Palestinians and then forcing them to escape to Jordan amid the chaos of a war The newly released transcripts confirm the existence of such a plan first revealed in outline by the journalist and author Ruvik Rosenthal Some of the witnesses’ statements refer to an “evacuation notice to village elders,” understood to mean a plan to deport some or all of the Arabs in the Triangle if war escalated to the West Bank Others suggested they would be transferred to other parts of Israel who commanded the Border Police’s southern company overseeing Kafr Qasem the order to drive out the Arabs was not a written but a verbal one “The company commander said that the eastern side [to the West Bank and Jordan] should be open they’ll leave… I understood that it would be no great calamity if they took this opportunity to go away.” Levy referred to two other aspects of the plan “Creating enclosures” and “transporting people,” meaning the internment of Israeli Arabs in camps and expulsion from their homes The curfew and the shooting of violators were aimed at scaring the Arabs and encouraging them to flee “It may encourage that thought… that the killing of a few people as an intimidation measure can encourage movement eastward as long as we hint to them [the Arabs] about the movement eastward.” The transcripts indicate that soldiers understood the purpose of the curfew was to terrify residents or encourage them to flee to Jordan “The immediate goal is to keep them in their houses as well as to require less manpower because they will eventually be like innocent sheep.” When one soldier was asked whether Shadmi had explained to his platoon the intention of leaving several people dead in each village adding “the major general said that it would be desirable to have a few casualties meaning dead… I said it would be best to knock out a few people… so that in the future there would be quiet and we would not need to have this much manpower overseeing these villages.” Israel has a host of laws and regulations aimed at intimidating suppressing and ultimately forcing both its Arab citizens and residents to leave Israel/Palestine President Shimon Peres issued a meaningless apology for the Kafr Qasem massacre and in 2014 President Reuven Rivlin attended annual commemorations for those killed Israel’s parliament rejected a bill to officially recognize the massacre Extremist settlers from the "Price Tag" terrorist gang set vehicles on fire and wrote racist and anti-Arab slogans in the city of Kafr Qasim early on Friday Eyewitnesses from Kafr Qasim reported that a group of "Price Tag" terrorists attacked vehicles belonging to the city's residents late at night It is worth noting that the "Price Tag" gang attacked the property of citizens in Kafr Qasim in February/March 2021 damaging the tires of private vehicles and writing racist and anti-Arab slogans as well as carrying out a terrorist attack on July 28 which included damaging the tires of vehicles and trucks and writing racist and anti-Arab slogans in the city Jewish extremists wrote racist and derogatory slogans against Arabs including "Price Tag" and "Revenge," and tagged "Star of David" on commercial stores and residential walls as well as damaging the tires of 32 private cars in the eastern neighborhood adjacent to the town of "Ras al-Ain." "Price Tag" gangs carry out racist attacks in many Palestinian towns All rights reserved for Palestine News Network PNN © 2025 Designed and developed by Element Media Extremist Israeli settlers stormed the Arab town of Kafr Qasim and spray-painted racist graffiti on the walls and threw rocks at windows Mayor of Kafr Qasim Adel Badir said the settlers’ attack could have caused bloodshed in the town especially had Palestinians been able to catch any of the attackers Badir believes that one of the reasons for the recent attack lies in the city's latest successes referring to the establishment of the industrial zone and several branches of high-tech companies the city as well as the town’s football team ascension to the first division league The Mayor asserts that this was not the first time Jewish extremists attacked Kafr Qasim adding that they have carried out similar attacks four times in the past two years The settlers entered the city covering their faces but some of them wore the Jewish kippah and signed the writings with their group’s name known as “Price Tag.” They claimed they avenged the Arabs for every government decision they do not like as well as smashed the windows of some houses and shops They wrote racial graffiti on the walls such as: “Death to Arabs” and “Jews will not be silenced” and “Israelis are alive.” They also punctured the tires of 32 private cars in the eastern neighborhood adjacent to the nearby Jewish town of Ras al-Ayn Price Tag group is formed of extremist Israeli settlers who usually carry out violent acts of punishment on Palestinians and their properties in Arab towns targeting holy sites Israel's plan for the "conquest" of Gaza has sparked renewed fears the most immediate threat to their lives remains the specter of famine amid a months-long Israeli blockade approved by Israel's security cabinet overnight includes holding territories in the besieged Gaza Strip and moving the population south "for their protection" But Gaza residents told AFP that they did not expect the new offensive would make any significant changes to the already dire humanitarian situation in the small coastal territory and the starvation -- every day -- so how can they talk about expanding military operations?" Awni Awad who lives in a tent in the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis after being displaced by Israeli evacuation orders said that his situation was already "catastrophic and tragic" "I call on the world to witness the famine that grows and spreads every day," he said The UN's World Food Program (WFP) in late April said it had depleted all its foods stocks in Gaza due to Israel's blockade on all supplies since March 2 told AFP her baby died because of malnutrition and medicine shortages last week "She was four months old and weighed 2.8 kilograms (6.2 pounds) Her hair and nails also fell out due to malnutrition." fears her five-year-old son might face a similar fate "Hashem suffers from iron deficiency anaemia and is unable to walk due to malnutrition," she told AFP and the government clinics and pharmacies have nothing." said that Israel's new military roadmap changes little as it already controls most of Gaza "The Israeli announcement about expanding military operations in Gaza is just talk for the media and there is no safe area in Gaza," he said The UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that 69 percent of Gaza has now been either incorporated into one of Israel's buffer zones That number rises to 100 percent in the southern governorate of Rafah where over 230,000 people lived before the war but which has now been entirely declared a no-go zone and the announcement of an aid distribution plan is just to distract the world and mislead global public opinion," Shawa said referring to reports of a new Israeli plan for humanitarian aid delivery that has yet to be implemented "The reality is that Israel is killing Palestinians in Gaza by bombing or through starvation and denial of medical treatment," he said Israel says that its renewed bombardments and the blockade of Gaza are aimed at forcing Hamas to release hostages held in the territory Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich praised the new plan for Gaza on Monday and evoked a proposal previously floated by US President Donald Trump to displace the territory's residents elsewhere The far-right firebrand said he would push for the plan's completion and Trump's historical plan is implemented with Gaza refugees resettled in other countries" Samia Halaby has created a moving set of images melded with text into a seamless whole She is a Palestinian contemporary artist and teacher with work in many public and private collections including that of the British Museum The art is illuminated and contextualized by intimate notes on the process and interpretive thinking underpinning the art’s creation helping to ensure that the political meaning of the art is not open to reinterpretation or distortion The actuality of the Kafr Qasem massacre is always kept at the center of the art and of the book as a whole which includes a substantial sampling of the available documentary history In the face of the Trump administration’s effort to divide the global working class by encouraging hate-filled nationalism and isolationism in the U.S. it is important to counterbalance his rhetoric with the reality that is all too familiar to those in countries living under imperialism and the violence and disregard for life which goes with it Drawing captures this reality in multiple dimensions the voices of the survivors in documentary form and the beautiful pictures which Samia Halaby has created 1956 the Israeli “Border Patrol” announced a 5 p.m The announcement came at a time when many workers were not in the village and had no communication with people there “In less than three hours… Israeli soldiers killed 49 people in… Kafr Qasem They were mostly workers and children returning home in the evening,” Samia Halaby writes nine “waves” at the western and sole entrance to the village Unarmed Palestinians were slaughtered in cold blood as they rode or walked along the road came out of their homes to see about loved ones Samia Halaby cites the remarks of one of the Israeli soldiers: “We were like Germans Same with us.” Forty-nine Palestinians were killed others were left to bleed among the dead all night then thrown roughly on the back of trucks and taken to the hospital Salman Abu Sitta’s article “Massacre as a Tool of Ethnic Cleansing” is included in Drawing just after the United Nations recommended a Partition Plan and hamlets were uprooted from their homes by force of arms and threat of imminent slaughter … This uprooting of Palestinians from their homes and communities was conducted by a foreign superior military force organized and financed and supported by colonial powers outside Palestine and motivated by an ideology built on the myth that ‘Palestine is a land without people’ and ‘Palestinians do not exist.’ Its objective was to make Palestine a land without people and eliminate Palestinians by massacre and expulsion so that they no longer existed in Palestine.” Over 700,000 Palestinian people were thus driven from their homes during the Nakba an early leader of an extremist Zionist faction who said in 1923: “Their [the Arabs] voluntary agreement is out of the question… Zionist colonization must… be carried out in defiance of the will of the native population continue and develop only under the protection of a force independent of the local population — an iron wall which the native population cannot break through The history of Israeli state relations with the Palestinian people from 1947 until today implements this Zionist iron wall policy a policy seeking the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people from their homes and the region of their birth a policy successive United States administrations have supported steadfastly by pouring billions of dollars annually into Israel’s military budget as well as by other forms of aid While the broad history of the Palestinian struggle for recognition of their human dignity and power to develop as a people is fraught with tragedy the Palestinians are also resilient and have done more than just survive Samia Halaby describes one of the women from Kafr Qasem key to helping the artist pursue the project of her artistic rendering of the massacre Samia Halaby writes: “At that time she [Aishy Amer] lived in Germany and we planned to meet Eventually she came to visit me in New York The beautiful scent of revolution and national resistance was all over her in each word and gesture.” Just wonderful though referring to the slaughter of women captured in the picture “Embrace in Death,” Samia Halaby mentions: “The women looked stiff and lacked the body language that I came to know as that of Kafr Qasem women who possess a certain pride of posture and feminine coquettishness that is charmingly self-aware.” Throughout the book the dignity of the children women and men of Kafr Qasem in the face of the most extreme Israeli state violence and terroristic behavior is pronounced That Drawing captures this dignity and humanity so deeply and so clearly is at the heart of its beauty Samia Halaby describes the book as “…a combination of drawings and words… it became two books in one one based on drawing and another based on documentation.” This reviewer read the book in one sitting the power of the images and in the documented voices of the survivors The images are placed in a rich context by interviews and reports from first-hand witnesses and survivors an article by an Arab Jewish journalist from Iraq newly immigrated to Israel who defied Israeli edicts and military cordons to visit Kafr Qasem soon after the events occurred and the report by a Palestinian Arab Communist representative to the Knesset bringing the tragedy to world attention Much of the art is conté crayon or pencil on paper lending a vibrant immediacy and intimate truth to the images that is compelling Emotional and factual authenticity combine to engage the viewer with the Palestinian people being depicted even in the process of the unfolding massacre The authenticity arises not only from the artist’s commitment to creating images consistent with survivor oral accounts and documentation but also from the artist’s personal experience “Even while examining my failures and considering my doubt a Palestinian woman who experienced the Nakba and lives the history of Palestine.” This reviewer’s sense of participating in a living process was pronounced This process was an intersection of the artist’s creative journey as captured in notes and images unfolding events of the massacre captured in documentation from multiple viewpoints survivors’ attempts to deal with the experience and the reader attempting to grapple with a growing understanding of the inhumanity of the massacre and the impact it had on survivors whose grief was magnified by their callous treatment by the Israeli state to avoid allowing any detail of the images from resonating in my heart and looking out at the viewer at the moments prior to death In this way the viewer could meet them as they gazed back from the drawing….” Meet them I did well worth the time to engage with the people of Kafr Qasem those who were victims and those who survived the massacre and with the amazing Palestinian woman artist who offers such heartfelt exploration into her creative process while illustrating and documenting the relatively unknown but very important www.schiltpublishing.com ‘Free for All: The Public Library’ explores the revolutionary spirit of... Baltimore crowd hails Meyers’ bio ‘No Power Greater’ DOGE ax falls on libraries ‘Sinners’ review: Horror, history, and Black American folklore combine for trailblazing cinema  Amidst capitalist crisis and war, Russian Communists struggle against Putin and the oligarchs U.S. imperialism’s new Cold War against China fosters anti-Asian racism at home Chickens coming home to roost: Remember what Malcolm said Video: Springsteen sings “Nueva Canción” as tribute to people of Argentina, Chile the highest IDF officer tried for the Kafr Qasem massacre admitted before his death that his trial was staged to protect military and political elites Historian Adam Raz believes that behind the horrific 1956 event was a secret plan to transfer Israel's Arabs 2018Get email notification for articles from Ofer Aderet FollowOct 13 a strange performance played out in the Military Court of Appeals at the Kirya the defense establishment’s headquarters in Tel Aviv and asked him just one question: Would publication of classified documents relating to the massacre in his village in 1956 be likely to stir up its residents To enumerate the documented Israeli massacres of Palestinian civilians This month’s massacre is part of an ongoing campaign targeting Palestinians in Gaza which began soon after the Zionist settler-colony was established in 1948.  Both massacres were committed by Unit 101 of the Israeli military headed by Ariel Sharon.  It was with this background of Israeli impunity in slaughtering Palestinians outside Israel’s borders that on the day of the Israeli invasion of Gaza and Egypt on 29 October 1956, the Israelis massacred Palestinians in Kafr Qasim - a village inside Israel bordering the West Bank.  the Israelis imposed a curfew on Kafr Qasim’s Palestinian citizens while Palestinian farmers were off working in the fields Israeli border police waited in the village for the farmers to return in the afternoon Recent archival revelations show that the massacre was part of a plan to spread general panic among what remained of the Palestinian population inside Israel after Zionist militias and the Israeli army’s ethnic cleansing of Palestinians between 1947 and 1949 was part of an Israeli plan to induce the remnant Palestinians to leave the country altogether wrote that “we must demand of the entire nation a sense of shame and humiliation...that soon we will be like Nazis and the perpetrators of pogroms.” The recent release of hundreds of documents used in the trial of Israeli officers charged with the massacre, but which remained sealed until now, resulted from a Military Court of Appeals’ decision in response to a request made by the Israeli Akevot Institute researcher Adam Raz almost five years ago.  The deportation plan would have gone a long way to complete the Israeli expulsion of 85 percent of the Palestinians from the territory that became Israel during the 1947-49 Zionist conquest of Palestine who commanded the Border Police’s southern company overseeing Kafr Qasim claimed that the commander instructed them that Palestinian “fatalities are desirable” He added that there existed two more elements in the plan: "creating enclosures” and “transporting people”. According to Haaretz this meant the internment of Palestinian citizens of Israel in detention camps and “expulsion from their homes.” The curfew and the shooting of violators aimed at frightening the Palestinians and encouraging them to flee.  Shadmi confirmed this “It may encourage that thought…that the killing of a few people as an intimidation measure can encourage movement eastward as long as we hint to them [the Palestinians] about the movement eastward.” What is often forgotten in narrating Israel’s slaughter of Palestinians, however, is that after the Palestinians of Kafr Qasim were massacred, the Israelis committed yet another two massacres of Palestinians as the Israeli invasion of Gaza and Egypt proceeded apace.  Upon conquering Gaza, the Israelis proceeded to bomb the town of Khan Younis on 2 November 1956 before Israeli tanks entered the town on 3 November The Israelis pursued resistance fighters and executed them on the spot or in their homes the Israelis rounded up all men and boys above the age of 15 in the town square killing somewhere between 300 and 500 people the vast majority of whom were civilians and half being 1948 refugees.  Suffice it to say that this latest massacre is part of an Israeli tradition that garners much support and little condemnation in the West.  Indeed, the US and the EU’s response to the massacre was to declare repeatedly and forcefully their support for “Israel’s right to defend itself” and mutedly to regret the death of Palestinian civilians.  It was, however, none other than Israel’s infamous defence minister, Moshe Dayan understood the suffering of Gaza’s Palestinians as he went on to justify Israel’s addiction to killing them: “Who are we that we should argue against their hatred we turn into our homestead the land and the villages in which they and their forefathers have lived and without the steel helmet and the cannon we cannot plant a tree and build a home Let us not shrink back when we see the hatred fermenting and filling the lives of hundreds of thousands of Arabs the choice of our life - to be prepared and armed strong and tough - or otherwise the sword will slip from our fist This article is available in French on Middle East Eye French edition. Copyright © 2014 - 2025. Middle East Eye. All rights reserved. Only England and Wales jurisdiction apply in all legal matters. Israel Police on Monday found an AK-47 and ammunition in a vehicle in the central Arab city of Kafr Qasim, southeast of Kfar Saba. "During police operations in Kafr Qasim in the center of the country, a suspicious vehicle was stopped," an Israel Police spokesman said. "The vehicle was searched and police units found and seized an AK-47 automatic weapon and ammunition. The two people in the car were arrested before any further incident took place. "Both the suspects have been arrested and are being questioned by police. They are from Kafr Qasim, and are aged 38 and 23. The suspects will later appear before the courts." "Police and Border Police activities and operations continue regularly in areas to prevent security incidents." To get the most out of our content, including fees, please confirm your age The username can only contain letters, numbers and underscores. Username can only contain letters, numbers and underscores. Length between 4-16 characters. Registration has been successfully completed. Make a new account if you don't have one yet Puedes ver la versión Española de BeSoccer.com. You can see the English version of BeSoccer.com. Vous pouvez voir la version French de BeSoccer.com. Puoi vedere la versione Italian su BeSoccer.com. Você pode ver a versão Brasileira de BeSoccer.com. Print Reporting from Jerusalem — In a landmark gesture to the country’s Arab minority Israeli President Reuven Rivlin visited the town of Kafr Qasim to pay tribute to victims killed by Israeli troops in an incident that remains a gaping wound for Israel’s Arab citizens nearly six decades later The first Israeli president to do so, Rivlin attended the annual memorial ceremony held for what has long been called the “Kafr Qasim massacre,” laying flowers at a monument engraved with the victims’ names “I have come here today as a member of the Jewish people and the president of the state of Israel to stand before you “The brutal killing in Kafr Qasim is an anomalous and sorrowful chapter in the history of relations between Arabs and Jews living here,” said the president “The state of Israel has recognized the crime committed here has apologized for it,” said the president “I too am here today to say a terrible crime was done here … the murder of innocents,” said Rivlin who said future generations must be educated about the tragic events and the lessons that must be learned His predecessor Shimon Peres apologized during a 2007 visit to the town Like other Palestinian communities that became part of the state of Israel in 1948 Kafr Qasim was under military rule until 1966 Fearing a surprise move by Jordan on the first day of the Sinai campaign in October 1956 Israel’s military moved up the curfew in eight communities near the border with Jordan to 5 p.m but word was late in reaching local leaders and didn’t make it to villagers working the fields troops shot dead dozens of civilians who unknowingly violated the curfew Several soldiers disobeyed the orders and refused to shoot used military censorship to hush up the bloodbath but two lawmakers used their parliamentary immunity to disclose it in a debate in Israel’s parliament and the case was investigated and brought to court eight commanders and soldiers were sentenced to jail for periods of between seven and 17 years Coining a phrase that would become a guiding principle in military and legal doctrine Judge Binyamin Halevy called the order an “expressly illegal command,” one marked with a “black flag” that soldiers must refuse to follow those sentenced were pardoned after a year by the state’s president In his remarks Sunday Rivlin did not confine his words to the past but also spoke of the troubled present saying that Jews and Arabs are destined to live together Israel is the “national home of the Jewish people who returned to their land” but also will always be the homeland of its Arab citizens who are “part and parcel of this land,” Rivlin said There is no point in denying or ignoring the reality of relations between the communities,” Rivlin said despite what he called “difficult and deep-rooted hatred,” Rivlin said he believes it possible to establish trust between Arabs and Jews in Israel “for the simple reason that none of us … have any other choice.” Despite lifelong membership in right-wing parties and objection to a Palestinian state Rivlin has emerged as a strong voice for civic equality and against racism in Israeli society Recently, he teamed up with 11-year-old George Amireh a Christian Arab boy from Jaffa to make a joint video urging mutual tolerance and empathy after seeing the boy’s own video protesting bullying peers that went viral The president also referred to continuing friction in Jerusalem and urged Arab citizens and leaders to take a strong stand against violence “All that live here today must stand up and speak out against … those who try to plunge us into the abyss,” he said Jerusalem remains tense after a Palestinian motorist last week drove into a light-rail stop fatally injuring a 3-month-old baby and a 20-year-old tourist from Ecuador Mosquera had been in Israel studying for her conversion to Judaism Large police and security forces were deployed in the city to counter unrest after the incident which police have ruled a terrorist attack was shot by a police officer on the scene and died of his wounds that evening Rocks were thrown during a procession held near Shaludi’s house in Jerusalem’s Silwan neighborhood to protest police restrictions on his funeral Separately Sunday evening, a crowd of thousands attended the burial of 14-year-old Orwa Hammad, a Palestinian American shot dead by Israeli forces in the West Bank on Friday. The U.S. expressed condolences to the family and urged a swift and transparent investigation into the incident. Hammad was born in New Orleans and moved to the West Bank as a young boy. Israel’s military said the teen was poised to throw a firebomb. World & Nation California Hollywood Inc. Subscribe for unlimited accessSite Map Registration has been successfully completed Puedes ver la versión Española de BeSoccer.com You can see the English version of BeSoccer.com Vous pouvez voir la version French de BeSoccer.com Puoi vedere la versione Italian su BeSoccer.com Você pode ver a versão Brasileira de BeSoccer.com This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page.