60 years ago one of the most important events in shaping the modern Middle East took place in the tiny Palestinian town of Deir Yassin - yet few Americans are aware of it.

On April 9, 1948, armed Jewish terrorists slipped into the peaceful Palestinian village of Deir Yassin and massacred between 100-125 townspeople. Sixty years later, few Americans know of this tragedy,although it is perhaps the most significant event in modern Palestinian history.

Jewish terrorists? Yes, in fact, terrorism played a role in the establishment of Israel. There were two significant terrorist groups at this time: the Irgun (led by future Prime Minister Menachem Begin) and The Stern Gang (future Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir was this group's most famous alumnus). In November 1944, The Stern Gang was responsible for the assassination of a British Minister of State for the Middle East, who expressed anti-Zionist views. In July 1946, the Irgun blew up Jerusalem's King David hotel; ninety-one people were killed. Both groups were known for their attacks on British soldiers, airfields, police stations, and armories.

Ironically, Deir Yassin was the one town in Palestine that had a peace agreement with the Jews, and the villagers honored the agreement-despite pressure from Arab soldiers to join the ongoing Jewish/Arab conflict. But, in an effort to acquire booty, increase morale, and perhaps build an airstrip, The Irgun and Stern Gang attacked Deir Yassin before dawn. At first, the assault was amateurish. The terrorists' weapons failed,and some did not know how to use the weapons that were functional. Several tossed grenades but failed to pull the pins.

     The townspeople of Deir Yassin held their own until help arrived from the more professional Haganah (The Jewish defense force); by late morning, the town was secured and The Haganah left the terrorists and Deir Yassin behind. But it was too late; the massacre had already begun. Defenseless villagers-the majority of the murdered were children, pregnant women, and the aged-were killed in cold blood. A formal investigation by the British concluded that women were raped and then shot. By afternoon, twenty four men were captured, loaded into trucks, and paraded around Jerusalem like trophies. The men were transported back to Deir Yassin and then shot point blank at a rock quarry.

Certainly there were larger massacres in Palestine, as more than 500 Palestinian villages were destroyed. But Deir Yassin is the most famous mass execution because of its immediate notoriety and its stunning aftermath. After the massacre, all parties exaggerated the number of deaths for their own self interests. The terrorists wanted the Arabs to panic, the Haganah wanted to portray the terrorists as cold-blooded killers, and the Arabs wanted the Jews to look evil in the eyes of the world. The result: Nearly 700,000 Palestinians fled their homes, and Israel never allowed these citizens to reclaim their rightful properties.

Following an intense effort from American lobbyists, Israel was born on May 14, 1948. Still suffering from war crimes, courtesy of the German monster, Jews everywhere were thrilled. But, in retrospect, could April 9 be more historically significant than May 14 because of how it has contributed to the continuous unrest in the Middle East?

Consider that very few Jews lived in the Holy Land from 137 A.D. until the early 1900s. In the twentieth century, Jewish emigration from an anti-Semitic Europe and the resultant Jewish settlements caused Palestinian dispossession. Further, terrorism bolstered the formation of Israel, and today's conservative Likud party descends directly from the terrorists. Finally consider that the families of the 700,000 who fled their homes in terror have wanted their homes back for decades, but are continuously refused this moral right to their property.

Yad Vashem is Israel's largest Holocaust memorial. At the memorial, there is a sign that says, "Always remember." When mourners exit Yad Vashem from the north side, they are looking at Deir Yassin. As Israel's strongest ally and sponsor, Americans should be mindful that Palestinians, too, have unsettling memories on this sixtieth anniversary of their most notorious massacre. John Kennedy once said, "Those who make peaceful evolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable." The Palestinian predicament is almost certainly the root cause of Arab animosity towards the United States and Israel.

(Drost authored Waiting for Paradise, a historical fiction novel on Israeli/Palestinian affairs. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it )