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Sa'sa' massacre

During the 1948 Palestine war, two massacres were perpetrated by Zionist forces in the Palestinian village of Sa'sa'. The first occurred on the night of 14-15 February 1948, when Palmach forces attacked the village killing approximately 60 people.[1][a] The second massacre occurred on 30 October 1948 when the village was conquered by the Israeli military as part of Operation Hiram.

Background

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Further information: 1947-1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine

One history of 1948 asserts that the reason for the attack was to restore Jewish public confidence in their fighting forces following the deaths of all the members of a platoon attempting to take supplies to Kfar Etzion a month previously.[3]

According to Efraim Karsh, on January 20-21 some 400 armed Arab fighters from 2nd Yarmuk Regiment of Arab Liberation Army based in Sa'sa' carried out attacks on isolated kibbutz Yechiam in western Galilee.[4]

Moshe Kelman was deputy commander of the attack on Al-Khisas of 18 December 1947.[5]

14-15 February massacre

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In February 1948, Yigal Allon, commander of the Palmach in the north, ordered an attack on Sa'sa'. The order was given to Moshe Kelman, the deputy commander of Third Battalion. The order read: "You have to blow up twenty houses and kill as many warriors as possible".[6][7] According to Ilan Pappé, "warriors" should be read as "villagers" to properly understand the order.[6]

On February 15, 1948, a Palmach unit entered the village during the night and, without resistance, planted explosives against some of the houses. It was reported at the time that ten or more houses were totally or partially destroyed and 11 villagers were killed (5 of them small children).[8] According to the official history of the Haganah, the village had been used as a base for Arab fighters.[9][7] However, press reports at the time cited by Khalidi belie this, since the Palmach units met "without opposition" in the village.[7] Moshe Kelman himself wrote that "We left behind 35 demolished houses and 60–80 dead bodies",[10] and historians estimate 60 people were killed and 16-20 houses demolished.[11][12]

30 October massacre

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A Palmach unit attacks Sa'sa, October 1948

A second massacre occurred after the conquest of the village on 30 October during Operation Hiram. Historian Saleh Abdel Jawad writes that "many villagers" were killed.[13][14] Those villagers who had not already fled were expelled. Northern Command OC Moshe Carmel later reported that he had seen evidence of killings, and an official investigation by Major Emanuel Yalan suggested that some villagers, including some with disabilities, may have been killed after the village was occupied. However, the relevant Israeli files remain closed to historians.[15]

"The History of the Haganah" by Ben-Zion Dinur described the attack as "one of the most daring raids into enemy territory."[7]

Aftermath

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Further information: 1948 Palestinian expulsion

Currently, there are few remains of the Palestinian village of Sa'sa', with the exception of the village mosque, which has now been converted into the kibbutz cultural center.

In 1992, the Palestinian historian Walid Khalidi described the remains of the village: "Some of the old olive trees remain, and a number of walls and houses still stand. Some of the houses are presently used by kibbutz Sasa; one of them has an arched entrance and arched windows. A large portion of the surrounding land is forested, the rest is cultivated by Israeli farmers."[16]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Morris 2008
  2. ^ Jawad, S.A. (2007). Zionist Massacres: the Creation of the Palestinian Refugee Problem in the 1948 War. In: Benvenisti, E., Gans, C., Hanafi, S. (eds) Israel and the Palestinian Refugees. Beiträge zum ausländischen öffentlichen Recht und Völkerrecht, vol 189. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-68161-8_3
  3. ^ Kurzman, Don (1970) Genesis 1948. The First Arab-Israeli War. An Nal Book, New York. Library of Congress number 77-96925. p.53
  4. ^ Karsh 2008, p. 37.
  5. ^ Pappé 2006
  6. ^ a b Pappe, 2006, p. 77
  7. ^ a b c d Khalidi, 1992, p. 496
  8. ^ New York Times, Feb 16, 1948. Also cited in Khalidi, 1992, p. 496.
  9. ^ מלחמת העצמאות תש"ח - תש"ט : דיון מחודש חלק א, הוצאת משרד הביטחון, 2004, עמ' 238
  10. ^ Pappé 2006
  11. ^ Benvenisti, 2000, p. 107
  12. ^ Benny Morris, 1948: A History of the First Arab-Israeli War, 2008, "killing some sixty villagers and destroying twenty houses."
  13. ^ Jawad, S.A. (2007). Zionist Massacres: the Creation of the Palestinian Refugee Problem in the 1948 War. In: Benvenisti, E., Gans, C., Hanafi, S. (eds) Israel and the Palestinian Refugees. Beiträge zum ausländischen öffentlichen Recht und Völkerrecht, vol 189. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-68161-8_3. "30 October [...] Indiscriminate killings occur. Many villagers, including cripples, are massacred after the surrender of the village."
  14. ^ Khalidi 1992, "The second massacre was perpetrated on 30 October, at the time that the village was occupied, during Operation Hiram"
  15. ^ Morris, 2004, pp. 481, 501, 503
  16. ^ Khalidi, 1992, p. 497

Notes

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  1. ^ Morris 2004 gives "the night of 15-16", but Benvenisti 2000, Pappé 2006, and Saleh Abdel Jawad[2] all give Feb 14 or Feb 14-15

Bibliography

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33°1′42.9″N 35°23′40.5″E / 33.028583°N 35.394583°E / 33.028583; 35.394583

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