69 years ago on this day April 9 Zionist gangs committed a heinous massacre in the Jerusalemite village of Deir Yassin killing and slaughtering dozens of its Palestinian residents including children and women.
Israeli war criminal Menachem Begin leader of the Irgun gang that participated in the attack on Deir Yassin was quoted as saying that if it hadn’t been for the massacre of Deir Yassin there wouldn’t have been an Israeli state.
In a letter to his commanders he wrote “Tell the soldiers ‘you have made history in Israel with your attack and your conquest. Continue this until victory. As in Deir Yassin so everywhere we will attack and smite the enemy. God God Thou have chosen us for conquest.”
The massacre which was perpetrated mainly by the Irgun and Stern (also known as Lehi) gangs on April 9 1948 is unforgettable for the Palestinians especially those who were displaced throughout the world and told the story to their grandchildren.
The day of the attack
At an early morning hour Irgun and Stern militiamen stormed Deir Yassin village near Jerusalem and embarked on attacking its residents when they suddenly encountered fierce resistance from local men who used old Mausers and muskets to defend themselves and their families.
Four members of the gangs died and 32 others suffered injuries in the clashes prompting them to seek help from the leadership of Haganah another Zionist gang which sent reinforcements to the village.
By noon over 100 people half of them women children and elders had been systematically murdered by the gangs. About 25 male villagers were detained and loaded into trucks paraded through the Zakhron Yosef quarter in Jerusalem and then taken to a stone quarry along the road between Givat Shaul and Deir Yassin and shot to death. The Zionist gangs opened fire indiscriminately at the villagers killing 350 of them.
Eyewitnesses
“The scenes of [Israeli] crimes in Deir Yassin are unforgettable; the massacre was horrible terrifying and unbelievable” Mohsen Mustafa a resident of Ramallah said affirming that the Zionist gangs ripped open the bellies of pregnant women.
“The timing of the massacre was preplanned and led to the displacement of the Palestinian people due to the passivity of the Arab media at the time” Mustafa opined.
“The massacre happened two weeks after the signing of a peace treaty at the request of chiefs of Jewish settlements near the village” he noted.
“The massacre was horrific but unfortunately it recurs somehow in the camps of the West Bank Syria and Lebanon these days” Mohamed Hasayneh a Palestinian citizen from Askar refugee camp in Nablus said.
