Lecture Entitled: "Sabra and Shatila: One of the Israeli strategies to end the Palestinian Camp"

On Thursday, September 27th, The Ibrahim Abu-Lughod Institute of International Studies hosted Dr. Saleh Abdel-Jawad, Historian and Professor of Political Science at Birzeit University, for a lecture entitled “Sabra and Shatila: One of the Israeli strategies to end the Palestinian camp". This lecture was held in memory of the thirtieth anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacre and during this lecture Dr. Abdel-Jawad reviewed two documentaries on the heinous massacre that was carried out for three days (from Thursday September 16, 1982 until Saturday September 18).

Dr. Abdel-Jawad mentioned that most of the Arab literature reveals 1948 only as a tragedy and catastrophe, and depicts Palestinians as a victim. Nevertheless, he argues that there is another side of the 148 Nakba which is the heroic role Palestinians played, where for instance in 1948 3000 Israelis were killed. Moreover, Dr. Abdel Jawad spoke about the Sabra and Shatila massacre and the forms of collective memory, where he differentiated between collective memory and group memory. He also noted that the massacre is only one of the Israeli series related to getting rid of the demographic existence of Palestinian refugees in Lebanese refugee camps, which Israel conceives as areas too close to its borders. He also mentioned that the Lahid army which executed the massacre are a secret force linked to the Israeli forces, thus Dr. Saleh Abdel-Jawad holds Israel full accountability for the massacre.

Dr. Abdel-Jawad concluded the lecture by discussing how during the massacre IDF refused to allow survivors of the massacre from leaving, through closing the Eastern and Western borders.