Shahira Abu Roudeina

Above: Shahira, right, with a close friend. Photograph by Philip Reynaers.

On Thursday 15 September, after sunset, the Israeli air force carried out some raids against us. We lived in the western part of the camp, and when the shelling started drawing nearer, we – my husband, my children and I – went to my parents’ home at the entrance of the camp, to see where they wanted to go. But we all stayed at my parents’ house until 7 pm, at which time, seeing as the shelling kept intensifying, my sister went to see what was happening outside. They immediately shot at her. She shouted, “Daddy!” and didn’t come back. Hearing her cry, my father went out. He saw her and said, “Our little girl is dead.” Then they shot at him, and he fell. The whole camp was lit up by light flares, and none of us could go outside. We stayed locked in like that until 2 am. Then we understood that there had been a massacre.

The noise of the killing and the screams haunted us until dawn. At five in the morning, they came down trough the roof, and suddenly we saw them on the stairs in front of the door of the bedroom where we were. About fifteen armed men positioned themselves at the window, and four of them came in. The children screamed and cried, and we women screamed, too. They put the men against the wall -- my husband, my paternal cousin and my brother – and they pumped them full of bullets in front of us. They made us come out and lined us up in our turn against the wall, wanting to pump bullets into us as well, but then they started arguing about who would be the first to shoot. Then they took us to the Sports Centre and took us into a room full of men, women and children. While guarding that room, they were also sharpening their axes and preparing their guns. It was Friday, at about five am. At midday, they brought back the young men and the women from the rest house, as well as some people from the Kuwaiti embassy. In the middle of the Sports Centre there were mines which had been there since the beginning of the Israeli invasion. One of the mines exploded. People fled, and we were among them. What can I say? When we were at the Sports Centre, the Israelis were securing the protection of the Phalangists, and Israeli tanks were stationed there. Also, it was the Israelis who shouted into the loudspeakers, “Give yourselves up and your lives will be spared.”

The above text is an extract from the Complaint lodged in Belgium against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Amos Yaron and other Israelis and Lebanese responsible for the massacre. The full text of the Complaint can be found in the section of this website titled The Case Against The Accused.

[The Sabra & Shatila Massacres]