Minneapolis, MN – On September 16, the Minnesota Anti-War Committee held a rally in remembrance of those killed during the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre. About 100 people rallied to project a message of solidarity with Palestine.

The Sabra and Shatila massacre was one of the most brutal massacres that Israel should be held accountable for. Between 2000-3500 Palestinian refugees and Lebanese civilians were killed in refugee camps outside of Beirut. The massacre occurred between September 16-18, 1982.

Historians and politicians have compared the massacre to al-Nakba, “the catastrophe” in Arabic, a phrase used to refer to the displacement of around 750,000 Palestinians in 1948. This comparison is made due to the sheer ferocity of Israel's attacks on the refugee camps in Lebanon. Those refugee camps only existed in the first place because of the displacement inflicted by al-Nakba.

Speakers from all walks of life gathered to greet the crowd with words of encouragement for continued solidarity with Palestine and continued efforts to end Israel’s ongoing genocidal campaign in Gaza, which has now gone on for more than eleven months. Speakers called for divestment from Israeli companies and international corporations complicit in Israeli genocide and occupation, and for an end to the funding of Israel from Minnesota and the United States.

“Nearly 18 years after the Sabra and Shatila Massacre, Hezbollah succeeded in ending the Israeli occupation in South Lebanon, inspiring the second intifada in Palestine,” stated Lina Jebara of the Minnesota Anti-War Committee. “Today, the people of Palestine inspire all of us to keep showing up. To keep demanding better for all of us. To Governor Tim Walz, who chairs the State Board of Investment, who has refused to act on our calls to divest Minnesota from Israel's genocidal regime, if you want this country to believe that you’re truly progressive, it’s time to put your money where your mouth is and pull us out of this genocide.”

“There are two things that Sabra and Shatila have taught us. The first is that history did not start on October 7. It absolutely did not. I can name many massacres that Israel has committed,” said American Maysoon Wazwaz of American Muslims for Palestine. “I have Tantura Massacre, I have Deir Yassin Massacre, I have Kafr Qassem Massacre and of course today we are here for Sabra and Shatila. The second point is that Zionism is the demographic threat. Zionism has always been a threat, not just to Palestinians but to its neighbors surrounding Israel, from Syria, to Egypt, to Lebanon where the Sabra and Shatila Massacre took place.”

“At the University of Minnesota we held encampment after encampment,” said a member of UMN Students for a Democratic Society, addressing the crowd. “We made it clear to our university that it was time to divest from genocide and apartheid.”

Lizzie Palmer of Twin Cities Coalition for Justice touched on Israeli forces training United States police in the use of lethal force on citizens. “The perpetrators who enacted these atrocities, the IOF, are the enablers of police militarization, racism and brutality that we see today,” said Palmer.

Vash Lamp of the Minnesota Anti-War Committee concluded the rally by sharing encouraging words. “When this is all said and done, you know it's because people like you did everything you could to prevent this from happening; because people like you would not stay home; because people like you took action to send a message that's heard loud and clear,” said Lamp. “That message is, ‘until we are all free, none of us are.’”

The demonstration was part of the Minnesota Anti-War Committee’s ongoing campaign to force Minnesota’s State Board of Investment to divest its extensive holdings in Israel Bonds, Israeli companies, weapons manufacturers, and other companies profiting off of the occupation of Palestine and Israel's apartheid system.

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