Popular Conference and Thabit Organization "Towards activating the legal file to prosecute the perpetrators of Sabra & Shatila massacre

The Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad and the "Thabet" Organization for the Right to Return held a digital dialogue seminar entitled “Towards Activating the Legal File to Prosecute the Perpetrators of the Sabra and Shatila Massacre,” as part of the activities commemorating the thirty-ninth anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacre, Thursday evening, 16-9-2021, via Zoom and Facebook pages.

The media symposium was moderated by Fatima Al-Sayed, where she welcomed the symposium's guests and followers. It provided a brief explanation of the crimes that occurred against innocent civilians in the Sabra and Shatila camps during the period of the "Isareli" invasion of Lebanon in 1982.

During his opening speech, the director of Thabet Organization for the Right of Return, Sami Hammoud, stressed that the Sabra and Shatila massacre is a crime that does not expire, calling on the Lebanese state and the Palestinian Authority to re-activate legal calls and to prosecute the perpetrators of the massacre, including the leaders of  "Isarel" and Lebanese militias, and bring them to the International Criminal Court. 

Hammoud said that "this painful occasion in the history of the Palestinian people in Lebanon, comes in light of the continuing difficult economic and financial crises that Lebanon is going through, which have a negative impact on the conditions of the Palestinian refugees."

He called on the new Lebanese government to approve the file of the economic and social rights of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. He also called on UNRWA to continue providing its services to Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, to launch an urgent humanitarian appeal and to develop a comprehensive emergency plan.

For his part, the legal and legal specialist in Palestinian refugee cases, Jaber Suleiman, spoke about the importance of the legal track and the possibility of activating this file, supporting the political track for it, and prosecuting and prosecuting war crimes perpetrators under Belgian law and the initiative of Belgian lawyers.

He explained the reasons for the suspension of the course of justice and the freezing of the invitation as a result of "Israeli" and American political pressure and European complicity.

Suleiman also pointed to the necessity of activating the legal file on several levels by the Lebanese state, the Palestinian Authority and human rights organizations to follow up on the issue, "because this crime does not expire with the passage of time and its perpetrators cannot escape punishment."

Yasser Ali, director of the Palestinian Dar al-Awda Foundation and author of the book "Israeli" massacres, addressed the issue of the "Israeli" policy and the criminal mentality that began from the first moment of the occupation of Palestine and the massacres under the slogan of purity of arms and the morality of the "Isareli" army.

He focused on the need to document the facts and figures of what happened and not to exaggerate in showing the true picture of the massacre, so as not to question the fact that "Isarel" committed the massacre by not verifying the actual number of victims.

The Director of the Children and Fatwa Center in Shatila camp, Mahmoud Abbas, participated in his speech about the importance of reviving this occasion in light of the circumstances surrounding the Palestinian people.

He pointed to the great damage caused by the settlement process since the Oslo Accords, leading to the perpetuation of security coordination with "Isarel". In return for the victories achieved through the intifada and the resistance of our Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the victories of the prisoners.

The symposium included a video presentation about the Sabra and Shatila massacre, and interventions by the followers.