1948 Palestinians commemorate Kafr Qasem massacre

30-10-2010

NAZARETH - Thousands of Palestinians from the 1948-occupied Palestinian territories participated on Friday in a rally to mark the 54th anniversary of the Kafr Qasem massacre under the slogan "against institutional racism and the Israeli racist onslaught".

Arab members of the Knesset participated alongside the residents of Kafr Qasem in the huge rally that started at the town center and moved towards the memorial of the victims of the massacre where a number of speeches were delivered, then the crowd moved on to the martyrs' cemetery and placed flower wreaths were placed on their tombs.

"Thousands of residents of Kafr Qasem participated in the rally against the facist onslaught against the Arabs," said the spokesman for the Popular Committee in Kafr Qasem, Adel Amer, adding that "We mark the anniversary of the massacre, which claimed the lives of 49 of our people, every year. Today we marked the 54th anniversary of the massacre and to foil the transfer conspiracy."

For his part, MK Muhammad Baraka said that the Supreme Arab Follow up Committee has adopted the commemoration at national level because the concept of transfer is being put forward in the official discourse of the Israeli government.

He emphasized that when the IOF committed the Kafr Qasem massacre in 1956, they imposed a curfew on the village and closed it from three directions, leaving the direction towards the West Bank open hoping the residents of the village would flee to the West Bank as they wanted to get rid of the largest number of Palestinians.

MK Ahmad al-Tibi said: "Our loyalty is to the homeland and our principal weapon is steadfastness and survival."

MK Jamal Zahalka said: "The mentality that committed the Kafr Qasim massacre is still there and today it is taking the form of an unprecedented racist onslaught that targets our very existence."

He added that despite all what was written about the Kafr Qasem massacre, the true facts have not yet been uncovered, especially the role played by politicians, particularly the role of David Ben-Gurion and the top military command in preparing plans to complete the expulsion of Palestinians from the triangle area.

Zahalka also said that the officers and soldiers who committed the massacre said during their "trial" that they were working within a greater plan and they were carrying out an operation similar to Hagana operations in 1948 to effect a mass exodus from 1948 towns and villages.

He summed up by saying: "We will not allow a new transfer no matter how huge the sacrifices are."

Source: Ezzedeen AL-Qassam Brigades - Information Office.
Link: http://www.qassam.ps/news-3681-1948_Palestinians_commemorate_Kafr_Qasem_massacre.html.