Learn about the history of the Palestinian struggle for freedom, equality and justice by exploring major events in the history of their oppression on this day of the year.
6 October
BLOODY RETRIBUTION FOR EARLIER ISRAELI CRIMES
On this day in 1973, Syria and Egypt launched a surprise attack on the Israeli occupied Golan Heights and Sinai Peninsula. Egypt and Syria tortured and killed many Israeli prisoners of war in retaliation for 1948, 1956 and 1967 Israeli massacres of captive Arab soldiers and civilians. Egyptian forces - ”lions led by donkeys” - crossed the Suez Canal and the cease-fire lines, and liberated much of the Sinai Peninsula before Israel mobilized most of its forces and halted the Egyptian offensive, resulting in a military stalemate.
الانتقام الدموي لجرائم اسرائيل السابقة
6 اكتوبر
في مثل هذا اليوم من عام 1973 م شنت سوريا ومصر هجومًا مفاجئًا على مرتفعات الجولان وشبه جزيرة سيناء المحتلتين. قامت مصر وسوريا بتعذيب وقتل العديد من أسرى الحرب الإسرائيليين انتقاما من مذابح إسرائيل عام ١٩٤٨، ١٩٥٦، ١٩٦٧ ضد الجنود العرب الأسرى والمدنيين. اجتازت القوات المصرية "الأسود بقيادة الحمير" قناة السويس وخطوط وقف إطلاق النار، وحررت جزء كبير من شبه جزيرة سيناء قبل أن تحشد إسرائيل معظم قواتها وتوقف الهجوم المصري، مما أدى إلى جمود عسكري.
At Least 86 Israeli POWs Were Killed in 1973 War
Defense Minister Moshe Dayan announced that some Israeli POWs had been killed after they were captured. Dayan said this conclusion was based on testimony from other IDF soldiers who saw their comrades being shot.“I talked with [returned] POWs who said, ‘They killed captives before our eyes.’
The findings were submitted to the office of the Military Advocate General and subsequently to the Foreign Ministry, which lodged an official complaint with international bodies.
After the war, Egyptian officers admitted that some Israeli soldiers were killed after surrendering...in retaliation for...Israel’s killing of Egyptian POWs in previous wars.
Killing prisoners in 1956
Israeli soldiers under Dayan’s command invaded Gaza and carried out mass killings in Khan Younis and Rafah. Hundreds of males over the age of 15 were lined up in public, beaten and shot dead in front of their friends and relatives to crush armed resistance. The UN recorded 275 Palestinians killed in Khan Younis and 111 in Rafah.
Killing prisoners in 1967
Egypt announced it had discovered two mass graves in the Sinai containing the remains of Egyptian prisoners of war and unarmed civilians shot by Israeli soldiers during the 1967 war.
'Egypt Says Israelis Killed POWs in '67 War', The New York Times, 21 September 1995.
"The Egyptian prisoners of war were ordered to dig pits and then army police shot them to death.” A reporter for Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot, Gabi Bron, described atrocities that he witnessed in the 1967 war: “I witnessed the executions with my own eyes in the morning of June 8, in the airport area of El Arish."
8-min video of 1973 Egyptian crossing of Suez Canal: https://youtu.be/-66seomf2K4