Fill circle

There is an obituary in Saturday's Guardian of Hamas leader Said Siam, killed recently by the Israelis. He doesn't, on the evidence here, seem a terribly nice man (he "led a unit that killed Palestinians suspected of informing for Israel", and "human rights agencies highlighted his ministry's use of torture"). But here it is, the story of Palestine, which tells us a great deal about the roots of this conflict, and probably a great deal about said Siam: "...he was born in a Shati refugee camp, Gaza, to a family who hailed from Al-Jura, a now destroyed village west of the Israeli city of Ashkelon...".

John Pilger in The New Statesman (12/1/09) reminds us of the "...infamous Plan D of 1947-8" which "resulted in the murderous depopulation of 369 Palestinian towns and villages" - much like Al-Jura. He also reminds us of the "massacre of Palstinian civilians in such towns as Deir Yassin, al-Dawayima, Eilaboun,..." and so on. Ben Gurian when asked "What shall we do with the Arabs?" made (according to Israeli historian Benny Morris quoted here by Pilger) "..a dismissive, energetic gesture with his hand and said 'Expel Them'..."

And on it goes.