| MASSACRE |
| What is a Massacre? The Israelis say that the killings at Jenin were not a massacre. War Crimes are defined under International Law. http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/92.htm War Crimes were committed at Jenin. http://hrw.org/reports/2002/israel3/ Massacres, however, are not defined under International Law. According to The American Heritage Dictionary, a massacre is "The act or an instance of killing a large number of humans indiscriminately and cruelly." Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary defines the verb massacre: "To kill in considerable numbers where much resistance can not be made; to kill with indiscriminate violence, without necessity, and contrary to the usages of nations; to butcher; to slaughter." The Guatemalan Historical Clarification Commission (CEH) compiling data about killings in Guatemala used the definition "A massacre shall be considered the execution of five or more people, in the same place, as part of the same operation and whose victims were in an indefensible state." In Columbia, "massacre" has been defined as "the killing of three or more people at one time in one area." At least 56 people were killed by Israelis in the April occupation of Jenin. At least 24 were civilians. "indiscriminate violence, without necessity, and contrary to the usages of nations..." Among the civilian deaths according to Human Rights Watch: "Fifty-seven-year-old Kamal Zghair, a wheelchair-bound man who was shot and then run over by IDF tanks on April 10 as he was moving in his wheelchair equipped with a white flag down a major road in Jenin; "Thirty-seven-year-old Jamal Fayid, a paralyzed man, who was crushed in the rubble of his home on April 7 after IDF soldiers refused to allow his family the time to remove him from their home before a bulldozer destroyed it; "Fourteen-year-old Faris Zaiben, who was killed by fire from an IDF armored car as he went to buy groceries when the IDF-imposed curfew was finally lifted on April 11; and "Fifty-two-year-old 'Afaf Disuqi, who was killed on April 5 by an explosive charge that IDF soldiers had placed at her front door as she went to open it for the soldiers." Five were killed in the "Boston Massacre." Future President John Adams successfully defended the soldiers who killed them. Four were killed in the "Massacre at Kent State." No charges were ever brought against the National Guardsmen involved. Seven were killed in the "St. Valentine's Day Massacre." All seven were gangsters killed by rival gangsters. 260 Soldiers were killed in battle at the "Massacre at Little Big Horn" by Native American Soldiers with inferior arms, though superior numbers. Custer was in the process of attacking a Native American village when ambushed. 189 foreign rebels were killed at the "Alamo Massacre" by Mexican troops after they refused to surrender. The Mexicans lost about 1,600 soldiers and, contrary to popular myth, Santa Ana did not kill the women and children at the Alamo. YES, JENIN WAS A MASSACRE. This page created and maintained by Dane Coefer--American. |