Kafr Qasem massacre: Israel makes decision on historic docs. That’s all we can say

Read More

Ending a five-year legal process, the military appellate tribunal has handed down its ruling regarding the request of a historian to reveal historical documents related to the Kafr Qassem massacre in 1956. But due to a gag order, this ruling cannot be published. So despite the fact that it was given, there is no telling whether, when, and which documents will be revealed to the public.

Former state archivist, Dr. Yaacov Lazovic, told Haaretz that “the degree of imbecility of this decision is so great, that no further comment is needed.” Regional Cooperation Minister Issawi Frij, a local resident, who was a witness at the hearing, said that “the decision to prevent the publication of a legal ruling, and thus empty it of meaning, is an improper and undemocratic act.”

The appeal to the court was filed in 2017 by historian Adam Raz, who now works at the Akevot research institute. At the time, he was writing a book about the massacre and sought to publish historical documents written during the military trial conducted in the late 1950s against the perpetrating soldiers. The material requested by Raz included some 600 pages of court minutes and a list of documents submitted as evidence during the 1950s trial.
The current trial, which dealt with whether to reveal the material, was conducted in closed chambers. The state opposed the request, arguing that revealing the minutes could compromise the state’s security, its foreign relations, or even the privacy or safety of specific individuals.

Former state archivist Lazovic saw the materials on the job and also submitted an opinion to the court, which is also under a gag order. “I have seen the material. I cannot say what it contains, but I can say, both in this regard and in general, that the stance stating that documents from decades ago can harm the state’s foreign relations or public order is completely mistaken,” he said on Monday.

The Kafr Qassem Massacre took place on the first day of the Sinai War in 1956. Border Police troops shot and killed 47 Arab-Israeli citizens who lived in the village in the Triangle region, including women and children. The residents returned home in the evening without knowing that the curfew hour had been changed to an earlier time. The soldiers shot at them following an order – which was eventually defined as “patently illegal” – to shoot anyone they saw on the street. Local residents say 51 people were killed in the massacre, including a boy and a man shot in nearby villages, an old man who died of a heart attack upon hearing that his grandson had been killed, and a fetus carried by one of the residents.

A demonstration in Kafr Qassem commemorating the massacre in 2019.Moti Milrod

Eight soldiers were convicted of involvement in the deed and sent to prison, but their sentences were commuted, and all were released before serving most of their sentences. Some even received public service appointments later on. Colonel Yiska Shadmi, commander of the sector where the massacre was committed, was tried separately. He was acquitted of murder, and convicted on a minor count of “exceeding authority.”

Official Israeli representatives have apologized for the massacre and asked forgiveness for it several times over recent decades. Kafr Qassem has a museum commemorating the murder victims, but a bill to officially recognize and commemorate the massacre – through budgeting, education, and other means – was voted down by the Knesset last year and raised political turmoil.

It’s time to stop keeping score: Both sides committed massacres in 1948

Classified docs reveal massacres of Palestinians in ’48 – and what Israeli leaders knew

Jewish soldiers and civilians looted Arab neighbors’ property en masse in ’48. The authorities turned a blind eye

Last March the ruling was made by the military appellate tribunal, signed by the court president, Maj. Gen. (ret.) Doron Feyles, who has since stepped down. At first, he imposed a sweeping gag order that included the very fact that a ruling had been made. This week the gag order’s restrictions have been somewhat reducted – and now, it can be reported that a ruling was made, though the content of the ruling still cannot be published.

“After decades, it’s clear that not releasing documents has nothing to do with security or foreign affairs, but rather is because the state seeks to prevent the release of information that will embarrass it and paint it in a negative light,” says Raz.

He says that recently, before the ruling, the military prosecution announced that it was retracting its objection to allowing large sections of the material to be reviewed. However, it still opposes publishing photos and certain documents, including those related to “Operation Mole” – a political plan to deport Triangle residents to Jordan, which some believe is the backdrop for the massacre. “What changed to make the prosecution drop its objection to publication? Nothing. It’s not like some security threat disappeared. It’s part of the state’s institutional DNA, not to publish material. In this case publication is crucial not only for research, but also for the community, which wants to know the whole truth about what happened to their loved ones,” Raz says.

Attorney Shlomi Zechariah, representing Raz, said, “The conduct of some of the actors was troubling, to say the least, and many eyebrows will be raised when all is revealed.”

Adam Raz and Esawi Freige at a hearing in the military court in 2018.Ofer Aderet

According to Minister Frij, “66 years after the massacre, the State of Israel is strong enough to stop being afraid of the truth. Publishing the minutes won’t harm state security; to the contrary, it will help this open wound heal. The concealment only intensifies the pain and suspicion. It’s time for the State of Israel to deal with the less pleasant parts of its history.”

The IDF Spokesman commented: “A decision was recently made regarding the request to review materials from the Kafr Qassem affair. There is a gag order on the contents of the decision, as the former president of the military tribunal ruled, and in accordance with the law.”

Colonel Yiska Shadmi at his home in 2017.Ofer Aderet