Deir Yassin

The massacre at Deir Yassin on Palestinian citizens by Jewish rebel groups and armed forces marked the beginning of the exodus of Palestinians that occurred in 1948, affecting 750,000-900,000 men, women, and children. The documentary on the Deir Yassin foundation provides insight into the horrors that were inflicted upon innocent citizens during this time. Arabs living in Deir Yassin were “driven out simply because they were not Jewish.” Conveniently for the Jews, Deir Yassin was located right between Tel Aviv and Jersusalem, and was desired to be a Jewish land.

I found it particularly interesting that one month prior to this massacre, the village of Deir Yassin had signed a peace treaty with the neighboring Jewish town of Givat Sha’ul. Givat Sha’ul became the town to play a main role in the massacre. Women, children, and men over 60 were slaughtered within one hour, and men and boys were then marched through the streets of Jaffa Road to the sound of applause by Jews that this village had been taken over. These victims were mercilessly executued.

This was a large reason for the present day Arab-Israeli conflict. Propaganda played a large role in the impact of the massacre. Newspapers, such as the New York Times had advertised that more numbers of victims were killed than actually were. For Arabs, this exaggeration was an even bigger cry for help. For Jews, this was an even bigger warning to Arabs to flee their lands.

Today, Jewish groups hardly even recognize that this was a massacre. As shown in the documentary, the mental health clinic that currently inhabits the lands of Deir Yassin cannot even be filmed. The Jews are trying hard to hide that this place was ever even in Arab hands.

Deir Yassin is a huge factor in the current day struggle over Palestinian territory. Had this massacre never taken place, would the fight today be as bad? Would Arabs be as passionate about fighting for a land that is supposedly rightfully theirs? Would Jews be able to build upon that massacre to have the incentive to fight even more today?