Yet another Sharon war crime exposed

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is generally known for his role in facilitating the atrocities against hundreds of Palestinian innocents of Sabra and Chatila refugee camp in West Beirut. A court case by some survivors has been lodged against Sharon in Austria.

But little is known about the Israeli premier's direct role in "a massacre of civilians" in Jordan half a century ago. Writing in The Electronic Intifada News Letter, Eric Ridenout uncovered that on October 14, 1953 a total of 69 civilians were murdered in Qibya, during a six-hour killing spree that nearly destroyed the entire Jordanian village.

Based on a comprehensive research work through UN, US and Israel archives, the writer said the attackers blew up about 40 houses, a school, a water pumping station, a police station and telephone office, and yet they sustained no casualties, since Qibya was virtually undefended.

Of the first 42 bodies recovered after the attack, 38 were women and children. One man lost all 11 members of his family.

Describing the scene, a UN observer stated that "bullet-riddled bodies near the doorways and multiple bullet hits on the doors of the demolished houses indicated that the inhabitants had been forced to remain inside until their homes were blown up over them."

International condemnation was swift and unequivocal. The UN Security Council passed Resolution 101, specifically condemning the attack on Qibya.

The National Jewish Post, in an October 30 editorial, wrote that "Qibya was in effect another Lidice and no United States citizen who was living at the time of this detestable Nazi extermination of an entire village will forget the world's horror at that act."

The world has known for decades who was responsible for the killing in Qibya, Ridenout says, "yet not only has no legal action ever been taken against him for these actions, but he is rarely even criticised for these crimes. The person who bears responsibility for Qibya is Ariel Sharon."

In 1953, the 25-year-old Sharon headed an Israeli special forces group called Unit 101. Its task on the night of October 14 was to take revenge for the killing of three Israelis in a colony near Tel Aviv two days earlier. Sharon's orders explicitly called for "destruction and maximum killing."

Thus, Unit 101 was sent to Qibya to kill civilians, a grave violation of international humanitarian law.

Why has Ariel Sharon not been held accountable for this blatant crime? His explanation is that he thought all villagers had fled and that the houses were completely unoccupied as they were being blown up.

He also stated that he wasn't aware until the next day that any civilians had died. That's a remarkably feeble excuse. It is not credible that 69 people could die such violent deaths without uttering any sounds.

In fact, an October 26, 1953 article about Qibya in Time magazine specifically stated that "The cries of the dying could be heard amid the explosions."

It's a mystery why Qibya was even targeted by the Israelis in the first place, since there was no evidence that the attacker who killed the three Israelis came from this town.

The writer concludes: "Why create an International Criminal Court at the Hague if some people are exempt from prosecution? A man with Sharon's long and bloody record should not enjoy impunity. After he leaves office, Ariel Sharon should finally be held legally accountable for his sordid past. Justice 50 years late is better than no justice at all."