60 Years Since the Kfar Qasim Massacre: The State of Israel’s Relationship with its Arab Citizens
Kfar Qasim Community Center
Schedule of Events:
Opening Remarks:
Adel Badir, Mayor, Kfar Qasim
Yohanan Plesner, President, Israel Democracy Institute
- Author Sami Michael: “60 Years since the Kfar Qasim Massacre: How have relations between the State of Israel and its Arab minority changed? How do they still need to change?”
- Rabbi Michael Melchior: “How can we build a trusting relationship between the State and the Arab citizens of Israel?” (tentative)
Open and intimate discussion between Arab-Israeli and Jewish-Israel participants to follow. Moderator: Professor Mordechai Kremnitzer
Additional participants:
- Former MK Chaim Oron
- Prof. Mustafa-Kabha
- MK Aida Toma-Suliman
- Former MK Ibrahim Sarsour
- Prof. Yuli Tamir
About the Kfar Qasim Massacre
The Kafr Qasim Massacre, in which 43 Arab civilians were killed by Border Police troops, took place in October 1956, on the eve of the Sinai Campaign. The Israeli army imposed a curfew on area residents due to security tensions, and soldiers were ordered to shoot at anyone breaking the curfew. Several dozen inhabitants of Kafr Qasim had been working in the fields that day and did not know that the curfew had been moved to an earlier hour. When they returned from their work, they were shot to death for breaking the curfew. Several days later, an investigative committee was appointed to probe the incident. It recommended that the families of the men who had been killed be given compensation and that those involved be prosecuted. The military court ruled that soldiers had a duty to disobey any order over which manifest illegality "waved like a black flag.”