I'm not an expert on the Al-Aqsa massacre or on Israel's occupation of Palestine, I just read the Wikipedia entry, and a couple of articles. Here I will lay out three brief points to put the massacre in context:
* An extremist Israeli group called the Temple Mount Faithful desired to reconstruct Solomon's Temple on the spot where the Al-Aqsa mosque stood. Israeli high officials in Israel's Supreme Court had restricted the group from protesting near the mosque because they tried to trespass onto the site on five separate occasions in September, weeks before the massacre.
* The Israeli government killed Palestinians on a repeated basis, and without any justification for over forty years before the massacre of October 8. So this wasn't out of the ordinary; it was another day at the office.
* The massacre took place within the third year of the first Palestinian Intifada, so this was during a state of war. And all soldiers in a state of war, regardless of their national background, have the mindset of "shoot anything that moves." You can't ever excuse mass killing, but it's important to understand that tensions were high, and Israeli civilians were also harmed by Palestinian violence.
Reham Alhelsi wrote a good, and short summary about the massacre on December 11, 2009 at his blog, 'A Voice From Palestine.' An excerpt:
"Since 1967, the “Temple Mount Faithful” fanatic Jewish group continuously attacked Al-Aqsa with the protection and the support of the IOF. Such attacks often ended with Palestinians being killed, wounded or arrested. The worst of these terror attacks is the Al Aqsa massacre. Several days before the massacre this fanatic group informed the media of its intentions to march to Al-Aqsa, on the occasion of a religious festival known as the “Throne Festival”, and place the foundation stone of the so-called “Third Temple”. They called on all Jews to join in this march and their leader and founder Gershon Solomon announced that the “the Arab-Islamic occupation of the temple area must come to an end, and the Jews must renew their profound ties to the sacred area.”[1] Calls were made to the Palestinians to come and protect Al-Aqsa. On Monday 08.10.1990, some 200,000 fanatic Zionist Jews marched to Al-Aqsa. The Israeli army assisted the fanatics as usual and eased their mission by placing military checkpoints along the entrances to the city, so as to prevent the Palestinians from getting in and protecting the Al-Aqsa. Nevertheless, thousands of Palestinians had already gathered inside Al-Aqsa since the night before and early morning. It was when the Palestinians tried preventing the fanatic group from placing the so-called ”foundation stone” for their so-called temple, that the massacre began. IOF soldiers and the fanatic settlers starting shooting randomly at the unarmed Palestinians, not distinguishing between young and old, men and women, and using machine guns and gas bombs. Israeli helicopters participated in the massacre from the air. The massacre lasted 35 minutes, from 10:00 to 10:35, in which at least 17 Palestinians (some sources mention 18, others 23) were killed and some 900 injured, most of the wounds being in the head and in the heart. And as if that wasn’t enough, the IOF then started beaten the people with their clubs and rifles."
On October 10, 1990, the United States government called for a United Nations investigation into the incident. On October 12 the UN Security Council issued Resolution 672, stating:
Video of Al-Aqsa Massacre - Part 1:Recalling its resolutions 476 (1980) and 478 (1980),
Reaffirming that a just and lasting solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict must be based on its resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973) through an active negotiating process which takes into account the right to security for all States in the region, including Israel, as well as the legitimate political rights of the Palestinian people,
Taking into consideration the statement of the Secretary-General relative to the purpose of the mission he is sending to the region and conveyed to the Council by the President on 12 October 1990,
1. Expresses alarm at the violence which took place on 8 October at the Al Haram Al Shareef and other Holy Places of Jerusalem resulting in over twenty Palestinian deaths and to the injury of more than one hundred and fifty people, including Palestinian civilians and innocent worshippers;
2. Condemns especially the acts of violence committed by the Israeli security forces resulting in injuries and loss of human life;
3. Calls upon Israel, the occupying Power, to abide scrupulously by its legal obligations and responsibilities under the Fourth Geneva Convention, which is applicable to all the territories occupied by Israel since 1967;
4. Requests, in connection with the decision of the Secretary-General to send a mission to the region, which the Council welcomes, that he submit a report to it before the end of October 1990 containing his findings and conclusions and that he use as appropriate all the resources of the United Nations in the region in carrying out the mission.
Part 2:
Part 3:
Part 4:
Part 5:
I hope this post encourages you to research the Al-Aqsa Massacre, and the general history of Israel's occupation, and crimes. We have to remember that innocent people were murdered, and injured. The people who died at this mosque weren't rising up against Israeli authorities, they were only protecting their property, and preserving their history, and humanity. Israel committed a grave injustice that day, and we can't forget it. An anniversary is not always a day for celebration, on some days, like today, it's about remembering acts of evil, and injustice.
R.I.P to all the innocent individuals who were blindly murdered in the Al-Aqsa Massacre.
