"The 1956 Massacre That Haunts a Palestinian Village in Israel Makes It to the Screen"
En tragisk hendelse som Ben Gurion prøvde å dekke over.
Nå dokumentert ved film, etter at hemmeligholdelsene av statsarkiv-informasjon om saken ble opphevet i 2022: "Two years ago, the transcripts from the trial of the 11 Israeli
officers, which was held the following year, were finally released. The
authorities said they had been kept under wraps because the severity of
the details would jeopardize Israel's national security. The filmmakers
have made the decision to reenact segments of those transcripts in the
new documentary."
HELE artikkelen om Kafr Qasem 26. mai 2024 i Haaretz:
At a time when Israel demands that the
world constantly be reminded of the unimaginable horrors of October 7,
one of the most talked about documentaries screened at Tel Aviv's
DocAviv festival (May 24-June 1) dares to examine the atrocities of a
massacre which many young Israeli know very little about.
On Friday, dozens of viewers from the Palestinian-Israeli village Kafr Qasem
arrived to Tel Aviv on private buses. They all came to watch the new
documentary "The 1957 Transcripts," (called "Black Flag" in Hebrew), on
the October 29 massacre which took place in their village 67 years ago.
The documentary, a production of Yes Docu,
was made by three Israeli women: director Ayelet Heller, producer Osnat
Trabelsi and editor Hadas Ayalon. Using archival material, reenactments
and interviews with survivors and relatives of victims, the three tell
the story of that bloody day, which was etched in the memory of
Israeli-Palestinians to this day.
Between
the establishment of Israel in 1948 and 1966, Kafr Qasem was under
Israeli military rule, along with all other Palestinian villages which
ended up inside Israel. The residents weren't allowed to move around
freely, and were put under curfew every night.
On that historical day, dozens of Kafr Qasem's residents went out to
work in the fields not knowing that the curfew would begin at an earlier
hour than usual. Everyone who returned to their homes after 5 PM was
shot by members of Israel's Border Police; 49 Palestinian women,
children and men died on the spot or eventually succumbed to their
wounds. David Ben-Gurion's government tried its best to hide the event's
details from the Israeli public, but they were leaked weeks later.
Two years ago, the transcripts from the trial of the 11 Israeli
officers, which was held the following year, were finally released. The
authorities said they had been kept under wraps because the severity of
the details would jeopardize Israel's national security. The filmmakers
have made the decision to reenact segments of those transcripts in the
new documentary.
Filmmaker Ayelet Heller at the screening of he documentary film 'The 1957 Transcripts' at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque, on Friday.Credit: Hadas Parush
"The 1957 Transcripts,"
which will be screened again on Monday, manages to expose the huge gaps
in the narratives of the two sides. More than anything, it spotlights
an idea that a lot of Israelis still believe in, which made the tragic
events possible: that the Palestinians in Israel are a fifth column, and
a constant threat that must be contained, controlled and repressed.
The film's final edit was done in September 2023, and Heller, the
director, was afraid nobody was going to be interested in seeing it at a
time of war. Many people advised her to wait for better timing. But
current events only make this important film more relevant than ever.
Nå i juli 2022 frigis israelske rettsprotokoller om massakren i Kafr Qasem, 66 år etter at den skjedde.
Når det da således nå er åpent for Israel å "ta" på dette såret ... da kommer man ikke utenom israeleren Latif Dori.
Det var han som personlig tok seg inn i landsbyen etter massakren og dokumenterte alle mordene, og han besøkte de sårede og skrev ned deres opplevelser. - Og dette spredde han .... MOT Ben-Gurions hemmelighold av massakren.
I en artikkel i Jerusalem Post 30. oktober 2016 blir Latif intervjuet: "Kafr Kasim: Echoes of the massacre Ben-Gurion tried to hide" "Sixty years after Border Police officers shot dead nearly 50 Arabs, a Jewish civilian recalls how he risked everything to expose the atrocity to his young nation."
Den som skal skrive om Kafr Qasem kommer ikke uten om dette intervjuet med Latif Dori i 2016.
Jerusalem Post 28. juli 2022 "6 east Jerusalem schools placed on conditional licenses due to textbook incitement" "Textbooks at the schools glorified Palestinian prisoners and made claims of killings, deportations and massacres by the IDF."
Det rare er at samme dag frigis i Israel informasjon om massakren i Qfr Kasem i 1956. Det tok 66 år.
Se også EDIT og NY Info nederst i innlegget 29. juli 2022
24. mai 2022:
Dagens Israel tåler ikke informasjon om det som skjedde i 1956.
Det er konklusjonen etter at en domstol i Israel har lagt lokk over en domsavsigelse.
Intet av det som er dømt må bli offentlig ... bare at det er dømt.
Det gjelder IDFs massakre i Kafr Qassenm i 1956.
Om dette gir Haaretz 24. mai 2022 informasjon så lngt det er tilgjengelig.
Det er snakk om en israelsk forsker som vil ha tilgang til arkivene fra 1956.
Fra Haaretz-artikkelen, der det angis at staten påstand var:
"The state opposed the request, arguing that revealing the
minutes could compromise the state’s security, its foreign relations, or
even the privacy or safety of specific individuals."
Og statens påstand ble tatt til følge:
"Last March the ruling was made by the
military appellate tribunal, signed by the court president, Maj. Gen.
(ret.) Doron Feyles, who has since stepped down. At first, he imposed a
sweeping gag order that included the very fact that a ruling had been
made. This week the gag order's restrictions have been somewhat reducted
- and now, it can be reported that a ruling was made, though the
content of the ruling still cannot be published."
Haaretz nevner noen av kommentarene etter denne sensuren:
"Former
state archivist, Dr. Yaacov Lazovic, told Haaretz that “the degree of
imbecility of this decision is so great, that no further comment is
needed.” Regional Cooperation Minister Issawi Frij, a local resident,
who was a witness at the hearing, said that “the decision to prevent the
publication of a legal ruling, and thus empty it of meaning, is an
improper and undemocratic act.”
Slik står det til. Sannheten fra 1956 må tildekkes og hemmeligholdes i 2022. SÅ LITE er palestinerne verdt, ... den gang som nå.
............................
EDIT 29. juli 2022
Da har IDF frigitt rettsreferater fra 1957 om Kafr Qassem:
Haaretz: "Transcripts of Kafr Qasem Massacre Trial Revealed: ‘The Commander Said Fatalities Were Desirable’" "The
Kafr Qasem massacre transcripts were kept secret until now, under the
claim that revealing them would jeopardize Israel' national security."
Jerusalem Post: "IDF releases court documents from Kfar Kassem massacre" "Witnesses argue Border Police soldiers interpreted orders "irrationally" • Arab MKs: Israel must acknowledge responsibility"
Det er skremmende lesning. - Det var ønskelig at noen døde? - Og at området ble etnisk renset ... ved flukt til Jordan? - Og var det planer om å innta Jordan hvis det eskalerte?
Her spørs det om ikke mer lys må til. Da må det skrives om saken.
Og så må dagens offisielle Israel på banen og uttale seg. Ellers kommer man ikke videre.
Kafr Qasem Massacre: Israel Makes Decision on Historic Docs. That’s All We Can Say
Israel
has maintained that a request by a historian to reveal protocols
dealing with the Kafr Qasem massacre would harm state security and its
foreign affairs. Now that a military court has made a ruling, it’s
unknown if, when and what information the public will see
Kafr Qasem residents attend a memorial event on the anniversary of the massacre, in 2019.Credit: Moti Milrod
Ending a five-year legal process, the
military appellate tribunal has handed down its ruling regarding the
request of a historian to reveal historical documents related to the
Kafr Qassem massacre in 1956. But due to a gag order, this ruling cannot
be published. So despite the fact that it was given, there is no
telling whether, when, and which documents will be revealed to the
public.
Former
state archivist, Dr. Yaacov Lazovic, told Haaretz that “the degree of
imbecility of this decision is so great, that no further comment is
needed.” Regional Cooperation Minister Issawi Frij, a local resident,
who was a witness at the hearing, said that “the decision to prevent the publication of a legal ruling, and thus empty it of meaning, is an improper and undemocratic act.”
The appeal to the court was filed in 2017 by historian Adam Raz,
who now works at the Akevot research institute. At the time, he was
writing a book about the massacre and sought to publish historical
documents written during the military trial conducted in the late 1950s
against the perpetrating soldiers. The material requested by Raz
included some 600 pages of court minutes and a list of documents
submitted as evidence during the 1950s trial. The current trial,
which dealt with whether to reveal the material, was conducted in closed
chambers. The state opposed the request, arguing that revealing the
minutes could compromise the state’s security, its foreign relations, or
even the privacy or safety of specific individuals.
Former state archivist Lazovic saw the materials on the job and also
submitted an opinion to the court, which is also under a gag order. “I
have seen the material. I cannot say what it contains, but I can say,
both in this regard and in general, that the stance stating that
documents from decades ago can harm the state’s foreign relations or
public order is completely mistaken,” he said on Monday.
The Kafr Qassem Massacre
took place on the first day of the Sinai War in 1956. Border Police
troops shot and killed 47 Arab-Israeli citizens who lived in the village
in the Triangle region, including women and children. The residents
returned home in the evening without knowing that the curfew hour had
been changed to an earlier time. The soldiers shot at them following an
order – which was eventually defined as “patently illegal” – to shoot
anyone they saw on the street. Local residents say 51 people were killed
in the massacre, including a boy and a man shot in nearby villages, an
old man who died of a heart attack upon hearing that his grandson had
been killed, and a fetus carried by one of the residents.
A hearing in a military court on the declassification of the Kafr Qassem massacre documents in 2018.Credit: Ofer Aderet
Eight soldiers were convicted of
involvement in the deed and sent to prison, but their sentences were
commuted, and all were released before serving most of their sentences.
Some even received public service appointments later on. Colonel Yiska
Shadmi, commander of the sector where the massacre was committed, was
tried separately. He was acquitted of murder, and convicted on a minor
count of “exceeding authority.”
Official
Israeli representatives have apologized for the massacre and asked
forgiveness for it several times over recent decades. Kafr Qassem has a
museum commemorating the murder victims, but a bill to officially recognize and commemorate the massacre – through budgeting, education, and other means – was voted down by the Knesset last year and raised political turmoil.
Last March the ruling was made by the
military appellate tribunal, signed by the court president, Maj. Gen.
(ret.) Doron Feyles, who has since stepped down. At first, he imposed a
sweeping gag order that included the very fact that a ruling had been
made. This week the gag order's restrictions have been somewhat reducted
- and now, it can be reported that a ruling was made, though the
content of the ruling still cannot be published.
“After
decades, it’s clear that not releasing documents has nothing to do with
security or foreign affairs, but rather is because the state seeks to
prevent the release of information that will embarrass it and paint it
in a negative light,” says Raz.
Colonel Yiska Shadmi (center), who commanded the forces in Kafr Qasem, during his time as a military commander in the Negev.Credit: Palmach Archives/IDF Archives
He says that recently, before the ruling, the military prosecution
announced that it was retracting its objection to allowing large
sections of the material to be reviewed. However, it still opposes
publishing photos and certain documents, including those related to
“Operation Mole” – a political plan to deport Triangle residents to
Jordan, which some believe is the backdrop for the massacre. “What
changed to make the prosecution drop its objection to publication?
Nothing. It’s not like some security threat disappeared. It’s part of
the state’s institutional DNA, not to publish material. In this case
publication is crucial not only for research, but also for the
community, which wants to know the whole truth about what happened to
their loved ones,” Raz says.
Attorney Shlomi Zechariah, representing Raz, said, “The conduct of some
of the actors was troubling, to say the least, and many eyebrows will be
raised when all is revealed.”
Adam Raz and Esawi Freige at a hearing in the military court in 2018.Credit: Ofer Aderet
According to Minister Frij, “66 years after the massacre, the State of
Israel is strong enough to stop being afraid of the truth. Publishing
the minutes won’t harm state security; to the contrary, it will help
this open wound heal. The concealment only intensifies the pain and
suspicion. It’s time for the State of Israel to deal with the less
pleasant parts of its history.”
The IDF Spokesman commented: “A decision
was recently made regarding the request to review materials from the
Kafr Qassem affair. There is a gag order on the contents of the
decision, as the former president of the military tribunal ruled, and in
accordance with the law.”
