1956 massacre of Arab civilians by the Israeli Border Police
Kafr Qasim massacre
Part of the Suez Crisis
Memorial at Kafr Qasim
Location
Kafr Qasim, Israel
Date
October 29, 1956; 67 years ago (1956-10-29)
Target
Arab villagers
Attack type
Massacre
Deaths
49 (including an unborn child)
Perpetrators
Israel Border Police
The Kafr Qasim massacre took place in the Israeli Arab village of Kafr Qasim situated on the Green Line, at that time, the de facto border between Israel and the Jordanian West Bank on October 29, 1956. It was carried out by the Israel Border Police (Magav), who killed Arab civilians returning from work during a curfew of which they were unaware, imposed earlier in the day on the eve of the Sinai War.[1] In total 48 people died, of whom 19 were men, 6 were women and 23 were children aged 8–17. Arab sources usually give the death toll as 49, as they include the unborn child of one of the women.[2]
The border policemen who were involved in the shooting were brought to trial and found guilty and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 7 to 17 years.[3] The brigade commander was sentenced to pay the symbolic fine of 10 prutot (old Israeli cents).[4] The Israeli court found that the command to kill civilians was "blatantly illegal". However, all of the sentences were later reduced, with some of those convicted receiving presidential pardons. All of those convicted had been released by November 1959.[5]
One of those convicted, Gabriel Dahan, was later placed in charge of "Arab Affairs" by the city of Ramla.[6]
Issachar (Yissachar) "Yiska" Shadmi—the highest-ranking official prosecuted for the massacre—stated, shortly before his death, that he believed that his trial was staged to protect members of the Israeli political and military elite, including Prime Minister David Ben Gurion, from taking responsibility for the massacre. The purpose was to portray the perpetrators as a group of rogue soldiers, rather than people acting under higher orders.[7]
In December 2007, President of Israel Shimon Peres formally apologised for the massacre.[8] In October 2021, a Joint List bill to have the massacre officially recognized was turned down in the Knesset.[9]
^Lucas, Noah (1975). The Modern History of Israel. New York, New York: Praeger Publishers. p. 356. ISBN 0-275-33450-3.
^Bilsky, p. 310.
^"48 human beings were massacred – and we have forgotten them". November 3, 2013.
^"President Peres apologizes for Kafr Qasem massacre of 1956". Haaretz. Dec 21, 2007. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
^Ronnie May Olesker, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy (Tufts University). International Law and Organization. The value of security vs. the security of values: The relationship between the rights of the minority and the security of the majority in Israel. 2007. p. 318.
^Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference haa was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^President Peres apologizes for Kafr Qasem massacre of 1956 Archived 2009-08-05 at the Wayback Machine Haaretz, 21 December 2007
^Noa Shpigel, 'Israel Shoots Down Bill to Officially Recognize 1956 Massacre of Arab Citizens ,' Archived 2021-10-27 at the Wayback Machine Haaretz 27 October 2021.
and 25 Related for: Kafr Qasim massacre information
The KafrQasimmassacre took place in the Israeli Arab village of KafrQasim situated on the Green Line, at that time, the de facto border between Israel...
KafrQasim (Arabic: كفر قاسم, Hebrew: כַּפְר קָאסִם), also spelled as Kafr Qassem, Kufur Kassem, Kfar Kassem and Kafar Kassem, is a hill-top city in Israel...
The flour massacre (Arabic: مجزرة الطحين) occurred in the Gaza Strip on 29 February 2024 when at least 118 Palestinians were killed and 760 injured after...
Festival where it won a Diploma. The subject of the film is the KafrQasimmassacre that occurred in Israel in 1956. Abdallah Abbassi Ahmad Ayub Salim...
Oxford University Press, pp. 121–122 President Peres apologizes for Kafr Qasem massacre of 1956 Haaretz, 21 December 2007 Yodfat, Aryeh; Arnon-Oḥanah, Yuval...
2021 Herzog participated in a memorial for the victims of the 1956 KafrQasimMassacre and apologized on behalf of the State of Israel, making him the first...
conflict, that is both surprising and encouraging." In the 1956 KafrQasimmassacre, 48 unarmed Arab citizens, returning to their village, were gunned...
by Maltese American comics journalist Joe Sacco. Khan Yunis massacreKafrQasimmassacre, a similar incident which occurred on the eve of the Suez Crisis...
it must not be followed. The concept was explained in 1957 in the KafrQasimmassacre ruling. The trial considered for the first time the issue of when...
commemorated incidence of military brutality in this time period was the KafrQasimmassacre in 1956, in which the Israel Border Police killed 48 people (19 men...
Kimmerling and Joel S. Migdal write that Land Day differed from the KafrQasimmassacre in that the Palestinians in Israel exhibited a "[...] daring confidence...
razed, and had their residents expelled, such as in Iqrit and Kafr Bir'im. Massacres of Christians were conducted at the villages of Eilabun and Al-Bassa...
and were named the "Northern Branch" while the supporters, based in Kfar Qasim, were named the "Southern Branch". The Southern Branch is considered more...
for an order that a soldier must refuse, coined in relation to the KafrQasimmassacre. He used a Yossi Sarid (a left-wing politician from Meretz) quotation...
During the 1956 Suez War, the Border Police was involved in the KafrQasimmassacre. On the second day of the war, a curfew was imposed on the Israeli...
This includes Abu Snan, Daliyat al-Karmel, Ein Qiniyye, Hurfeish, Isfiya, Kafr Yasif, Kisra-Sumei, Majdal Shams, Maghar, Peki'in, Rameh and Shefa-Amr, where...
for such permit infractions or for trespassing. Shortly after the KafrQasimmassacre in 1956, Israel began a Jewish settlement project on land expropriated...
Global Information