Thousands turn up to
mark Qana massacre
Mourners compare tragedy to Jenin Mohammed Zaatari
Daily Star correspondent
Thousands of people from around the country flocked to a
mass grave in Qana on Thursday to join the town’s inhabitants in commemorating the
sixth anniversary of the Israeli shelling of a UN base in the village that killed over 100
civilians.
“From Sabra and Shatila to Qana and Jenin, the Israeli Army multiplies the massacres
which the United States covers up. Boycott American products,” said a banner raised
at the entrance of the mass grave.
On April 18, 1996, at the height of an Israeli military offensive, several hundred
villagers took refuge at the base, manned by UNIFIL’s Fijian contingent, believing
they would be safe there. Instead, the hangars housing the refugees came under Israeli
artillery fire.
Black banners commemorating the attack on Qana were placed on roads leading to the village
in the hills of southern Lebanon, 11 kilometers north of the Israeli border.
“Qana-Jenin, two victims of the same thug,” read a banner.
During the commemoration, youngsters shouted: “Sabra and Shatila, Jenin and Qana: The
Arabs want vengeance.”
“The blood of Lebanese and Palestinians spills side by side for freedom and dignity
and against the Israeli occupation,” said Randa Berri, wife of Speaker Nabih Berri,
in a speech at the ceremony organized by the Committee to Commemorate the Qana Massacre.
Speaking on behalf of the organizing committee, Bilal Sharara, secretary of foreign
affairs in Parliament, called on Arabs to sever all relations with Israel, support the
Palestinians materially and morally and boycott various products of countries backing the
Jewish state.
In turn, Elias Kfoury, the Orthodox bishop of Tyre, Sidon and Marjayoun, called on
“religious authorities across the world to force Israel to lift the siege it has
imposed on the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem.”
Carlos Edde, head of the National Bloc, said peace was farther away now than ever and
threatened by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and “sectarian intransigence.”
With agencies
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