[Islam-Online- Politic]

As many believe that history is written by the victor, few are those who deny the impact left by the truth in the minds and memories of the victims, even if such truth is unacknowledged by the victor himself. While Israel, since its establishment in 1948, undermined the version of stories told by Palestinians of their homeland and how they were uprooted and displaced at gunpoint after the brutal murder of thousands, facts manage to find their way out. It may appear peculiar that much of these facts are told by Israeli Jews themselves. Although the reason behind such confessions is still unclear, it is vital not to let such disclosures go unconsidered, because they could clarify many other stories, which have been long denied.

A recent study conducted by a reputable Israeli researcher and historian at the University of Haifa revealed information that brought great pain to the living memory of many Palestinians. To the Israelis, on the other hand, as always the split was evident; some hid in shame, while others utterly denied the allegations. The study conducted by Teddy Katz spoke of a forgotten and undocumented massacre committed against the peaceful residents of a Palestinian village named "Al-Tanturah". Although the Israeli researcher's "discovery" was a well-known fact to most Palestinians, especially for those who witnessed similar atrocities in near past and the present, many of them were relieved to know that the long-denied blood of those innocent is being acknowledged.

"Al-Tanturah", sat gently on a hillside overlooking the beautiful scenery of northern Palestine: the rich land and the captivating sea. In one night, after a Jewish gang seized control of the area, and in the matter of a few hours, the village population was reduced to 200 men, women and children. By dawn the village was emptied of its 1500 inhabitants. Some were killed and the rest were forced to flee after the horrifying massacre. Frightened, and with no food and few clothes, Al-Tanturah villagers ran north, south, east and beyond the sea.

One of them was 74-year-old Fawzi al-Tanji, who lost his land and many dear ones at Al-Tanturah massacre. Fawzi was interviewed by an Israeli paper, Ma'ariiv. The minute he was asked to retrieve the memory of the massacre, the old man began to sob. "They took us to the village graveyard," he said, referring to troops of a Jewish gang. He went on, "They lined us up in several lines. A Jewish commander came and ordered his troops to pick ten. They did and the chosen ten were lined up beside the cactus plants and shot." He added, "They came back and chose another ten, to remove the bodies of the murdered ten and then they themselves were killed." Fawzi lamented "Oh how I wish I was also shot that day. It would have been much easier than living with the pain all these years."

Abdallraziq al-Ashmawi, another survivor of the massacre told of how he lost 12 members of his family who were all shot on their homes' doorstep. Al-Ashmawi, now 64-year-old, described a scene where over 25 men were lined up front of the village mosque and shot by Jewish troops.

Despite their bravery, sacrifice and heroic resistance of the troops, fighting with little means in defense of their land, Palestinian villagers lost the battle and thereafter the village fell. That was when the massacre began. According to a Palestinian eyewitness testimony documented in Katz's report, after the line-up killings, troops roamed the streets and shot everything that moved. Colonel Bints Frieden, who led the Jewish gangs in Al-Tanturah and was later promoted to lead a larger Israeli army unit admitted to the killings justifying them, by saying that those who were killed in the street had no signs on their backs saying that they are not going to shoot at the Jewish fighters. "This is what happens when a battle breaks in a residential area," he said. Colonel Frieden however, failed to realize that those who defended the village were the village inhabitants themselves, not a group of outsiders seeking protection and a place to hide.

Where Al-Tanturah once stood, now stands a kibbutz and a large parking lot which Israeli beach lovers use when they come to enjoy what al-Tanturah residents once enjoyed: beautiful scenery and the captivating sea. Yet under that solid concrete there once was a village. Unlike what most Israelis now think and what Mr. Katz's reported, the village was never completely deserted. In fact over 200 of its residents have remained, enriching its soil after watering its land with their blood.

Many are those who are eager to put the past behind them and only see what they think is relevant to their future. But the past lingers in our memories, shapes our present, and influences our future. And that is why we must remember Al-Tanturah and the other 417 villages destroyed by Jewish gangs in 1948. We mustn't let go of the memory of those murdered while heroically defending their rights and each other throughout the past years. While sometimes memories bring pain, they also teach courage, the courage of those who never deserted the village of Al-Tanturah. The over 200 innocent Palestinian who were buried in mass graves shall always remind us of their cause, teach us about ourselves and ask us: what have you done to carry out the struggle for freedom? We truly ought to remember, because if we don't, our children might never know that the large parking lot beside the beach, and the nearby kibbutz of Nahshuleem was once a Palestinians village, called Al-Tanturah

Ramzy Baroud is a writer for Islam Online from Seattle, Washington. For feedback, please e-mail ramzy5@worldnet.att.net

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