Massaker

Between September 16 and 18, 1982, between 1,000 and 3,000 Palestinian civilians, predominantly women, children and old people, were murdered in the two Lebanese Palestinian camps Sabra and Shatila. The exact number of victims has never been determined. The perpetrators primarily originated from the ranks of the Forces Libanaises, Christian militia affiliated to Israel. The logistics for this massacre were provided by the Israeli Army, under the auspices of the former Minister of Defence and current Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon. In 1982, the massacre in the Lebanese Palestinian camps deeply shook the public throughout the world, but today it has been almost entirely forgotten. This is despite the fact that it is a role model for all the massacres that followed: for example that in Rwanda or those committed during the Yugoslavian wars. Again and again, the unanswered questions surface: what drives people to such excesses of brutality, and how are the perpetrators able to live on?