Israel Releases Kafr Qasem Massacre Court Documents

IDF archives released on Friday (7/29/2022) court documents from the trial of officers involved in the 1956 Kafr Qasem massacre, in which 49 Israeli Arabs were killed by border police.

BY Livingway Mission        PUBLISHED: 08/01/2022      UPDATED: 08/01/2022

On October 29, 1956, a curfew was imposed on villages and other Arab villages along the Jordanian border, but the commander of the area, Issachar Shadmi, gave the villagers working in the fields unannounced to spend the afternoon on their own. It was decided to change from 9 p.m. to 5 p.m.. Residents, not aware of the situation, left their homes and were shot to death.

In 1957, many officers involved in the massacre were tried in military courts, some were imprisoned, but one convicted commander later returned to command.

According to protocols released on Friday, the border police commander showed that he had not loosened his vigilance by discussing the possibility of conquering Jordan in an upcoming operation on the eve of the massacre.

According to court documents, even after the curfew had begun, there were instructions to keep peace between the evenings and the afternoons and allow returning residents to enter their homes.



The defendants mentioned several times a plan called the Hafarperet ("mole") plan, which involved a set of procedures that could be carried out against the Arab population in times of war, including forcing Arab residents into Jordan.

Company commander Haim Levy said the plan included curfews, confiscation of war-worthy property and moving entire villages from place to place. In the case of Kafr Qasem, the entire village population had to be moved to Tira when the plan was implemented.

During the interrogation, one of the witnesses emphasized that the Hafarferet plan was for Israeli defensive situations and not the same as the Israeli-led Operation Kadesh.

Levy confirmed that there was an explicit order to shoot anyone who broke the curfew, even though he was unaware that there was a curfew. He added that he had heard the villagers who were working in the fields at the time said, "Their judgments are the same as others."

Levy added that he told battalion commander Shmuel Malinki that "a lot of casualties would be desirable" and that the rest of the curfew would be easier if there were deaths on the first day. The company commander said the army was instructed not to have lookouts and checkpoints on the east side so that the Arabs could and would be allowed to flee across the border if they decided to escape.

Shadmi said one of the reasons for the curfew was to prevent residents from seeing IDF soldiers deployed near the Jordanian border and to prevent residents from accidentally walking into areas with Israeli troops.

Millinki claims that when he asked Shadmi how he should treat those who come home after curfew, he replied, "May God have mercy on them." When asked by the lawyer to clarify what he meant, Shadmi said "it means he's more likely to die," but added that this was for a riot situation.

Several eyewitnesses claimed that they gave orders they thought they could understand, and that soldiers at the scene seemed to have interpreted the orders "irrationally".

Shadmi hypothesized that such orders were given to soldiers who " have eyes in their head, and before they shoot they need to think a little", and a curfew was an alternative to the Hafarferet plan, he added, adding that Hafarferet was a list of ideas created to deal with the "uncertain loyalty" of the Arab population.

Gabriel Dahan, commander of the division operating at Kafr Qasem, said he was told by Melinki: “without sentiments, it is better to have a few dead, so that there will be peace in the area. He emphasized that there will be no murder, but killing. I understood from his words that this is in accordance with the order and this murder – if I deviate from the order.”.

Dahan added that he entered the village after curfew began. Seeing that the people were still outside, Dahan shot in the air and shouted in Arabic to go home. Meanwhile, from the north of the village, a squad shot and killed an Arab approaching the village.

The commander added that within the next 30 minutes gunshots were heard throughout the village and at least 30 Arabs were found dead in the west of the village. A police officer stationed there said he told him to get out of the car and they shot and killed him as they kept trying to escape. Dahan stated in his testimony that he became known as a “hot-tempered guy ' by the police officer who used his weapon carelessly on multiple occasions.

Joint List member MK Aida Touma-Suleiman responded to the protocol release Friday afternoon.

He said, “Today what we said from the first day was revealed: The shocking massacre in Kafr Qasem in 1956 was a deliberate murder, part of a plan to deport the residents of the Triangle!”

“The published protocols prove that Israel not only murdered 50 Arab citizens in cold blood but also planned the ‘establishment of pens’ and the ‘transfer of the people’ – not only in 1948 but also under the military regime in the 1950s,”

“The State of Israel must officially acknowledge its responsibility for the massacre. Acknowledging the crimes of the past is a necessary step on the way to correcting the historical injustice and the basis for a common future.”

Regional Cooperation Minister Esawi Frej also commented on the publication: “I’m finally reading the words I’ve dreamed of reading all my life. The evidence of the planned murder, on the eastern gate of Kafr Qasem, was left open in the hope that the survivors would understand the message and escape. But next to the pain there is also peace.”

“After 66 years, the truth comes out. For so long, our country sought to hide from us the truth about the massacre that hurt every family in Kafr Qasem, including my family, and continued to accompany us to this day,” he lamented. “Now the truth is out; so is the deportation plan [Hafarferet] – although not officially published, it is present on every page of the trial protocol.”

Frej urged the school curriculum to teach genocide to all boys and girls, Jews and Arabs.

“For years, the state has come up with countless excuses to hide the truth from us,” he said. “Today the obvious was revealed; that there is nothing like the truth to ease the pain, to help build the common future, to give hope.” said Frej.

Source: Jerusalem Post