September 15, 2017
“Today we somberly mark the thirty-fifth anniversary of the massacre of innocent Palestinian civilians in the Sabra and
Shatila refugee camps in West Beirut that took place between September 15-18, 1982. With the collusion and support of
the Israeli army under Ariel Sharon who left a legacy of bloodshed and destruction, this massacre claimed the lives of
3,000 Palestinian refugees.
This remains a tragic chapter in Palestinian history, and thirty-five years later, the Sabra and Shatila massacre still
represents Israel’s cruelty and inhumanity towards the Palestinian people as a whole. This massacre, as well as other
massacres against the Palestinian people, go unpunished.
It also should remind the entire international community that the plight of the more than six million Palestinian
refugees has not been resolved. Instead of targeting UNRWA, Israel and the U.S. must do justice to the Palestinian
refugees and implement international law and UN resolutions, particularly United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194
(1948), the 1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights (1966) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948).”
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