Opinion | A Preventable Massacre
Opinion | A Preventable Massacre
Key takeaways
Bibliography: Anziska, S., 2012. Opinion | A Preventable Massacre. The New York Times.
Authors:: Seth Anziska
Tags: #Begin,-Menachem, #Civilian-Casualties, #Draper,-Morris, #Israel, #Lebanon, #Palestinians, #Reagan,-Ronald-Wilson, #Sabra-and-Shatila-Massacre,-Lebanon-(1982), #Shamir,-Yitzhak, #Sharon,-Ariel, #United-States-International-Relations
Collections:: Arab-Israeli Conflict
First-page:
In 1982, the United States failed to exert strong diplomatic pressure on Israel that could have ended a massacre of Palestinians in Lebanon.
content: "@anziskaOpinionPreventableMassacre2012" -file:@anziskaOpinionPreventableMassacre2012
Reading notes
- The verbatim transcripts reveal that the Israelis misled American diplomats about events in Beirut and bullied them into accepting the spurious claim that thousands of “terrorists” were in the camps. Most troubling, when the United States was in a position to exert strong diplomatic pressure on Israel that could have ended the atrocities, it failed to do so. As a result, Phalange militiamen were able to murder
- Palestinian civilians, whom America had pledged to protect just weeks earlier.
The Sabra and Shatila massacre severely undercut America’s influence in the Middle East, and its moral authority plummeted. In the aftermath of the massacre, the United States felt compelled by “guilt” to redeploy the Marines, who ended up without a clear mission, in the midst of a brutal civil war.
- Mr. Lewis told me, America left Lebanon “with our tail between our legs.”
- Mr. Sharon exploded again: “When it comes to our security, we have never asked. We will never ask. When it comes to existence and security, it is our own responsibility and we will never give it to anybody to decide for us.”