A display intended to remember the massacre of 1,700 people in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Beirut was set up Monday on the West Mall.
The display, put on by the Palestine Solidarity Committee, informed students about the killing of Palestinians while they were in the refugee camps that were under Israeli occupation. The massacre occurred Sept. 16-18, 1982.
The demonstration, which displayed 185 shoes, represented the deaths of 10 people with each pair. Pictures of murdered Palestinians accompanied the shoe display.
The estimated statistics of casualties range from 1,700 to about 5,000, said Mani Mostofi, a Middle Eastern studies graduate student and member of PSC.
"In this display we're using the low numbers," he said.
Monday's display was created to let people
know that Israeli armed forces are killing Palestinian civilians even today, said Hussein Alayyan, an architecture junior and PSC member.
"We've had a few hecklers. We aren't doing this out
Mostofi said that one heckler accused the group of being terrorists. "This is about terrorism. That's why we're doing it. We hate terrorism. We abhor it, and that's why we're creating a commemoration against it," he said.
The Phalange - a Christian Lebanese militia - largely aided by the Israeli military, were given the green light by Ariel Sharon, minister of defense at the time, to "take care of the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization)." What resulted in these refugee camps were atrocities, brutal killings of the most brutal sort, Mostofi said.
Israel did not have physical involvement; however, they did oversee the refugee camps and provide entrance for the Phalange. Sharon was found responsible for the massacre because under international law, an occupying force is responsible for the civilians under its occupation, Mostofi said.
According to the report of the Commission of Inquiry into the 1982 Beirut massacre, "The Minister of Defense Ariel Sharon bears personal responsibility."
Sharon was eventually relieved of his duties in Lebanon, Mostofi said.
Between classes many people paused at the display to study the pictures, shoes and quotes.
"I had no idea this ever happened. This is pretty enlightening," said Adeel Omer, a computer science senior. "On the one hand they found him [Sharon] responsible, but now he's the prime minister of Israel."
Mostofi gave possibilities as to why Sharon is the prime minister.
"I think he became prime minister because there's a level of fear in the Israeli populace after the intifada started," Mostofi said. He explained that an intifada means uprising in Arabic. "The Israeli public is sort of worried there will be increased violence, so you elect the tough guy; you elect the bully because he'll protect you. And it's really tragic," Mostofi said.
"By and large the response [to the display] has been overwhelmingly positive," Mostofi said.
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