Never Forget The Qibya Massacre!
On October 14, 1953, israeli occupation forces led by future Prime Minister Ariel Sharon carried out the Qibya massacre in the West Bank, murdering 77 innocent Palestinians in cold blood, at least half of whom were women and children.
Ordered by the highest levels of the government and given the green light by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion Sharon was ordered to “attack and temporarily occupy the village, carry out destruction and maximum killing, in order to drive out the inhabitants of the village from their homes.”
In the aftermath of the massacre, due to massive backlash internationally, Ben-Gurion flatly denied that israeli forces had ever set foot in Qibya on October 14th, calling it a “false and fantastic tale.”
While the occupation immediately sought to erase the massacre, Palestinians have carried its history forward. In Qibya, plaques with the names of the martyrs uplift their memory, and the survivors of the massacre continue to pass on the history to the next generation.
Hamed Ghethan, a survivor of the massacre who was 4 years old when it took place, reflected on the ongoing legacy of the massacre in 2014: “Sharon’s name reminds me of 77 martyrs from my village Qibya, which symbolises an infinite brutality for killing innocents including women, elders and children.”
Today we honor the martyrs of the Qibya massacre and carry their memory forward in the struggle for Palestinian liberation and return. 🇵🇸
#Qibya #QibyaMassacre #Palestine #DefendPalestine #FreePalestine #WithinOurLifetime
