Four Hours in Shatila Author(s): Jean Genet Source: Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 12, No.

3 (Spring, 1983), pp. 3-22 Published by: University of California Press on behalf of the Institute for Palestine Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2536147 . Accessed: 29/03/2011 17:05
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Four Hours in Shatila

JEANGENET*
"Goyim goyim, kill the andthey cometohang Jews."
MenachemBegin 1982) (Knesset,September

can the no technique, putintowords six No one,nothing, narrative in which fedayeen the the and spent the weeks, months, especially first As the and mountains Jerash Ajlounin Jordan. forrelating events, of and of PLO,that the has the establishing chronology, successes failures the in The of beendonebyothers. feeling theair,thecolorofthesky, the the can the these be told;butnever faint of trees, intoxication, earth, the the in eyes, the the barely touching earth, sparkle the lightnessfootsteps of the between fedayeen alsobetween but not of openness relationships only the was and leaders. Under trees, them their everyone aquiver, everything, at withwonder thislife,so newforall, and in these laughing, filled watchful, reserved, strangely immovable, vibrations wassomething there to EveryEverything belonged everyone. protected someone like praying. And perhaps not. In theend,smiling and one was alonein himself. where The for theyhad withdrawn political haggard. area in Jordan to and by from Syrian border Salt, wasbounded the reasons extended the 60 and roadfrom Jerash Irbid. to About kilometers River the long Jordan
*Jean Genetis a French poetand playwright. also wroteon thePalestinians theAutumn1973 He in issueof theJournal.

4 JOURNAL OF PALESTINE STUDIES

area was coveredwithholm oaks, little and 20 deep, thismountainous and and thecamouflaged Jordanian villages sparsecrops.Underthetrees had tentsthefedayeen setup combatunitsand emplacedlight and semiin arms.The artillery place,directed heavy mainly against possibleJordanian operations, youngsoldierswould take care of theirweapons,disthenreassemble assemblethemto clean and greasethem, themquickly. and this their Some managed featofdisassembling reassembling weapons so blindfolded theycould do it at night.Betweeneach soldierand his weapon a loving,magicalbond had developed.Since the fedayeen had left the as was of onlyrecently adolescence behind, rifle, a weapon, thesign and gave assurance of being. Aggressiveness distriumphant virility showedbehindthesmile. appeared:teeth the dranktea,criticized their The rest thetime, fedayeen of leaders and and insulted therich,Palestinian others, talked Israel,and above all they in the wereinvolved and theone they abouttherevolution, one they were about to enter upon. " in in Forme,theword"Palestinians, whether a headline, thebodyof an article, a handout,immediately to mindfedayeen a specific on calls in determined spot-Jordan-and atan easily date:October,November, December 1970,January, February, and March, April197 1. Itwasthen there thatI discovered Palestinian the The extraordinary Revolution. evidence the ofwhatwashappening, intensity thisjoy atbeingaliveis also called of beauty. Ten yearswentby,and I heardnothing about them, exceptthatthe even fedayeen werein Lebanon.The Europeanpressspokeoff-handedly, West Beirut. disdainfully, about thePalestinian people. Then suddenly,
* * *

A photograph twodimensions, does a television has so neither screen; Fromone wallof thestreet theother, to can be walkedthrough. bentor one walland their heads pressing feetpushing arched,withtheir against I theother, blackandbloatedcorpsesthat hadto stepoverwere the against all Palestinian Lebanese.For me,as forwhatremained thepopulaand of Shatilaand Sabra resembled gameofhopscotch. a tion,walking through a wereso small, narrow, Sometimes dead childblockedthestreets: so they The smellis probably and thedead so numerous. familiar old people; it to me. Butthere wereso many If flies. I lifted handkerchief the didn'tbother them. or theArabnewspaper Infuriated placedovera head,I disturbed by swarmed ontothebackofmyhandandtried feedthere. to myaction, they

SHATILA

The first corpseI saw wasthatofa manfifty sixty or old. He would years havehad a shockofwhite hairifa wound(an axe blow,it seemedto me) brainwas on theground, hadn'tsplithisskull.Partoftheblackened next in to thethehead.The wholebody was lying a pool ofblackand clotted a blood. The beltwas unbuckled, single buttonheldthepants.The dead man'sfeet and legswerebareand black,purpleand blue; perhaps had he at or beentaken surprise night at dawn.Was he running He by away? was in to of lying a little to alleyimmediately theright theentry Shatilacamp the which acrossfrom KuwaitiEmbassy. is Did theShatilamassacre take place in hushedtonesor in totalsilence,iftheIsraelis, bothsoldiersand claimto haveheardnothing, havesuspected to officers, whereas nothing had beenoccupying building this sinceWednesdayafternoon? they A photograph doesn'tshowtheflies thethick smell death. nor white of Neither does itshowhow you mustjump overbodies as you walkalong fromone corpse to the next. If you look closelyat a corpse, an odd phenomenon occurs:theabsenceof lifein thisbody corresponds the to totalabsenceofthebody,or rather itscontinuous to backing away.You feel that evenbycoming closeryoucan never touchit. Thathappenswhen But youlook at it carefully. shouldyou makea movein itsdirection, get downnextto it, movean armor a finger, it muchthere suddenly is very and almostfriendly. Love and death.These two wordsare quickly associatedwhenone of them written is down.I had to go to Shatilato understand obscenity the of of love and theobscenity death.In bothcases thebodyhas nothing more evensilences tohide:posit.ions, contortions, gestures, signs, belongto one and The bodyofa manofthirty thirty-five lying world to theother. to was facedown.As ifthewholebodywasnothing a bladder theshapeofa in but the of man,it had become so bloated in thesun and through chemistry thatthepantswerestretched as decomposition tight thoughtheywere and thighs. The onlypartof theface goingto burstopen at thebuttocks thatI could see was purpleand black. Slightly above theknee youcould see a thigh woundunderthetornfabric. Cause ofthewound:a bayonet, a a Flies than knife, dagger? on thewoundand aroundit. His headwaslarger I a watermelon-ablack watermelon. askedhis name;he was a Muslim. "Who is it?" "A Palestinian," man about forty a answeredin French."See what done." they've He pulledback theblanket covering feet the and partofthelegs.The calveswere blackand swollen. Thefeet, blackunlacedarmy in bare, boots,

6 JOURNAL OF PALESTINE STUDIES

and theanklesofbothfeet werevery tightly boundtogether theknotof by a strong rope-its strength obvious-about ninefeetlong,whichI was arranged thatMrs. S. (an American)could geta good pictureof it. I so asked themanof forty I could see theface. if "If you wantto, but look at it yourself." "Would you helpme turnhis head?" "No." "Did they draghimthrough streets the withthisrope?" "I don'tknow,sir." "Who tiedhimup?" "I don'tknow,sir." "Was it Haddad's men?" "I don't know." "The Israelis?" "I don't know." "The Kataeb?" "I don't know." "Did you knowhim?" "Yes." "Did you see himdie?" "Yes." "Who killedhim?" "I don't know." He hastily walkedaway fromthe dead man and me. Fromafarhe intoa side street. looked back at me and disappeared WhichalleyshouldI takenow?I wasdrawn menfifty by years old, by menof twenty, twoold Arab women,and I felt ifI werethe as young by contained hundreds dead. center a compasswhosequadrants of of I jot thisdown now, not knowing exactlywhyat thispoint in my "The French havea habitofusingtheinsipidexpression narrative: 'dirty orderedtheKataebor theHaddawork.'Well, just like theIsraeliarmy had diststo do their work'doneby 'dirty work,'theLabor Party its'dirty theLikud,Begin,Sharon,Shamir."I have just quoted R., a Palestinian who was stillin Beirut Sunday,September on 19. journalist In themiddle, nearthem, thesetortured all victims, mindcan'tget my ridofthis"invisible vision":whatwasthetorturer Who washe?I see like? himand I don'tsee him.He's as large life as and theonlyshapehe willever haveis theone formed thestances, and of by positions, grotesque gestures thedead fermenting thesun underclouds of flies. in

SHATILA

and the Italian If the AmericanMarines,the Frenchparatroopers, so forcein Lebanonleft quickly who bersagliere madeup an intervention airplanes!) whoarrived shiptwodayslate,fledinHercules by (theItalians, date,as ifthey departure their official hoursbefore one dayor thirty-six assassination, Bashir Gemayel's and away, on thedaybefore wererunning and French if in really wrong wondering Americans, Palestinians are the to had Italians notbeenwarned clearoutprontoso as notto appearmixed of up in thebombing theKataebheadquarters? early.Israelbragsand boastsaboutits and very very quickly Theyleft circumits its combat efficiency, battlepreparedness, skill in turning in Let's see; thePLO leaves circumstances. stancesto itsfavor, creating hiding as on in Beirut triumph, a Greekship,witha navalescort.Bashir, of best he can, visitsBeginin Israel.The intervention the threearmies Italian)comes to an end on Monday.On Tuesday, French, (American, West Beirut Tsahal [Israel DefenseForces]enters Bashiris assassinated. As if theywerecomingfromthe port,Israeli on Wednesdaymorning. With wereadvancing Beirut morning Bashir'sfuneral. of the on soldiers in coming single from eighth the floorofmyhouse I sawthem binoculars, becausewith else that file: column.I wassurprised nothing happened, one a good rifle they could havebeen pickedoff.Theirbrutality witha sight them. preceded them.Then thejeeps. The tankscameafter they stoppednearthe march, Tiredout by sucha longearly-morning into goingright the letting tanksgo on ahead of them, Embassy, French and at foot sat Hamra.The soldiers downon thesidewalk thirty intervals ahead. With rifles the pointedstraight wall,their leanedagainst embassy out twolegsstretched infront looked likeboas with their longtorsosthey of them. Habib not to set "Israel had promisedthe Americanrepresentative of to the and populations the footinWestBeirut especially respect civilan in stillhas the letter whichReaganmade the camps. Arafat Palestinian same promise.Habib supposedlypromisedArafatthatnine thousand in the On in prisoners Israelwouldbe freed. Thursday massacres Shatila by and Sabrabegin.The 'bloodbath'thatIsraelclaimedit wouldprevent told me. orderto thecamps. . ." a Lebanesewriter restoring "It willbe veryeasy forIsrael to clear itselfof all the accusations. no them: at of Journalists all theEuropeanpressarealready workclearing to and to from on Friday one willsaythat thenights Thursday Friday from

8 JOURNAL OF PALESTINE STUDIES

Saturday Hebrewwas spokenin Shatila."Thatis whatanother Lebanese told me. The Palestinian woman-for I couldn'tleave Shatilawithout going from corpseto another this del'oie* wouldinevitably up at one and jeu end thismiracle: Shatila Sabrarazed theground realestate and to and battles to rebuildon thisvery cemetery-the flat Palestinian womanwas probably elderly becauseherhairwasgray. She was stretched on herback,laid out or leftthereon the rubble,the bricks,the twistediron rods, without I At comfort. first wassurprised a strange by braidmadeofropeandcloth whichwentfromone wristto the other,holdingthe two arms apart horizontally, ifcrucified. blackandswollen as Her face, turned towards the sky,revealed open mouth, an blackwith and flies, teeth thatseemedvery white me,a facethat to seemed, without moving muscle, a either grin to or smileor else to cryout in a silentand unbrokenscream.Her stockings were blackwool,andherpinkandgray flowered dress, slightly hikedup or I too short, don't knowwhich, revealedthetops of swollenblackcalves, again withthe delicate mauve tintsmatchedby a similarpurple and mauveinthecheeks.Werethesebruises thenatural or result rotting of in thesun? "Did theystrike withthebuttof therifle?" her "Look, sir,look at herhands." I hadn'tnoticed.The fingers thetwohandswerespreadoutand the of tenfingers werecutas ifwith shears.Soldiers, like gardening laughing kids andgaily had had and these singing, probably fun shears. discovering using "Look, sir." The endsofthefingers, topjoints, the with nail,layinthedust.The the and me young man,who was simply naturally showing how thedead had been tortured, calmlyput a cloth back over the face and hands of the Palestinian woman, a pieceofcorrugated and cardboard overherlegs.All I could distinguish now was a heap of pinkand graycloth,hoveredover by flies. Threeyoung menled me down an alley. "Go in,sir,we'll waitforyou outside." The first room was whatremained a two-story of house. The room of and gavean impression serenity even friendliness, nearhappiness; of realhappiness perhaps had beencreated ofothers'throwaways, out with whatsurvives froma destroyed piece of wall,withwhatI first thought
gameof goose,similar "snakesand ladders," gameof chanceusingdice-Ed. to a *Literally,

SHATILA

three seats(perhapsa Mercedes car a werethree from armchairs, actually a material junkyard), couch withcushionscoveredwithgaudyflowered A withstylized a designs, smallsilentradio,two unlitcandelabras. fairly as quiet room,in spiteof thecarpetof spentshells.The door swung, if I a and pushedthedoor,which there were draft. walkedon thespentshells the openedtowards otherroom,butI had to pushhard:theheelofa boot on blockedthe way,the heel of a corpse lying its back, neartwo other facedown,all of themresting another on corpsesof menlying carpetof fell spentshells.I nearly severaltimesbecauseof them. Atthebackoftheroomanother door wasopen,without lockor/latch. I steppedoverthebodiesas one crosseschasms.The roomcontained the corpsesoffourmen,piledon top ofeach otheron a single bed, as ifeach one had takencare to protect one underhim,or as iftheyhad been the caughtin a decaying orgiastic copulation.This pile of shieldssmelled strongly, itdidn'tsmellbad. The smelland theflies but had,so itseemed, used to me. I no longerdisturbed gotten anything theseruins,in this in quiet. and duringthose from fromThursdayto Friday, Duringthe night Fridayto Saturday and Saturdayto Sundayno one had keptvigilwith I them, thought. thesedead menbefore Yet,itseemedto me thatsomeonehad visited their menwerewaiting far death.The three meandafter young fairly from noses. over thehouse withhandkerchiefs their I as out Itwasthen, I wascoming ofthehouse,that hada suddenattack to that madness that mademealmostsmile.I thought myself there ofslight to But be boardsor carpenters makethecoffins. then wouldnever enough were Muslims, all needcoffins? dead menand women The why wouldthey wouldittaketo enshroud so whoaresewnintoshrouds.How many yards Whatwasmissing Andhow many many corpses? prayers? here,I realized, of was therhythm prayers. "Come, sir,come quickly." Itis time notethat suddenand quitemomentary to this madness which mademe countyards white of clothgavean almostbriskliveliness my to I step,and thatit mayhave been caused by a remark hearda Palestinian womanfriend maketheday before. "I was waiting themto bring mykeys(whichkeys:to hercar, me for herhouse,all I knownowis thewordkeys)whenan old manwent running by. 'Where are you going?''To get help. I'm the gravedigger. They've

10 JOURNAL OF PALESTINE STUDIES

I All bombedthecemetery. thebones are uncovered. needhelpgathering thebones'." I She continued: is This friend a Christian, think. "When the vacuumbomb, a so-calledimplosionbomb, killedtwo people,wehad onlyone box. The menduga massgrave hundred fifty and We the cemetery. filled box,and wentto empty in theOrthodoxChurch out underthebombs,digging bodies and limbsas it. We back and forth bestwe could." during handshavehad a double function: Over thelastthree months, to cuts made this the day to graspand touch,at night, see. Electricity times as two "(school theblind" necessary, itdid theclimbing, or three for all marble the stairway. had to fill We cliff, eight-floor a day,ofthatwhite The telephone cutoff in water. was whenthe thecontainers thehousewith their Hebrewinscriptions. alongwith entered West Beirut Israelisoldiers Merkava tankswhich stopped never So weretheroadsaroundBeirut.The an and at thesametime showedtheywerekeeping eyeon thewholecity, thoseinsidescaredtheywouldbecomea fixed They target. one imagined who and the fedayeen of no doubt fearedthe activity the Murabitoun* in remain sectionsof West Beirut. might but we of army wereprisoners, it the The dayafter entrance theIsraeli caused thandespised, they werelessfeared seemedto methattheinvaders or No less fearthandisgust.No soldierwas laughing smiling. one was throwing or flowers. rice deprived was and Sincetheroadshadbeencutoff thetelephone silent, timein mylife,I felt of contactwiththe restof the world,forthefirst becomePalestinian hateIsrael. and myself was which neartheBeirut-Damascus AttheSportsStadium, highway, the aerialbombardment, Lebanese destroyed by nearly completely already damaged,to Israeli deliverpiles of weapons,all supposedlyvoluntarily officers. to I has where am staying, everyone a radio.We listen In theapartment (in Radio-Amman, Radio-Jerusalem Radio-Murabitoun, Radio-Kataeb, in Radio-Lebanon. doingthesamething every Theyareprobably French), apartment. whichbringus bombs, "We are linkedto Israel by manycurrents our soldiers, children our off they carry soldiers, fruit, vegetables; tanks, to Palestine,in a continualand unceasingcomingand going,because
LebaneseNationalMovement-Ed. groupin thepro-Palestinian *A Nasserite

SHATILA

II

according them, have been linkedto themsince Abraham, his to we in . lineage, his language, thesame origins. ." (A Palestinian in in fedai). "In short,"he adds, "theyinvadeus, theystuff suffocate and us, us wouldliketohugus. Theysaythey ourcousins.They're are very to see sad us turn away from them. They must be furiouswith us and with themselves."
* * *

The statement there a beautypeculiarto revolutionaries that is raises many problems. Everyone knows, everyone suspects, that young children or adolescents in living old and harshsurroundings a beauty face, have of and to of body,movement gazesimilar that thefedayeen. Perhaps may this in be explained thefollowing withtheancient way:breaking ways, new a freedom pushesthrough dead skin,and fathers grandfathers the and will havea hardtimeextinguishing gleamin theeyes,thethrobbing the the in the temples, joy of blood flowing the through veins. In the springof 1971, in the Palestinian bases, thatbeautysubtly In of a madealivebythefreedom thefedayeen. thecamps pervaded forest more muted beautyprevailedbecause of the presenceof a different, the a from combat The campsreceived sortoflight womenand children. it bases,and as forthewomen, wouldtakea longand complexdiscussion their radiance. Evenmorethanthemen,morethanthefedayeen toexplain in combat,the Palestinian womenseemedstrong enoughto sustainthe with revolution. a that camealong and resistance acceptthechanges They had already in disobeyedthecustoms:theylooked themenstraight the hair sometimes refused weara veil,their wasvisible, to eye,they completeThe briefest mostprosaicof their and their voices steady. ly uncovered, a taskswas buta smallstepin theself-assured journeytowards new,and therefore unknown, order,but whichgave thema hintof a cleansing and liberation themselves, a glowing for prideforthe men. They were as of to ready becomeboththewivesand themothers heroes, they already men. werefortheir wereperhapsdreaming girls In thewoods of Ajloun,thefedayeen of it that though seems,rather, each one conjuredup or shapeda girllying the their againsthim,hence the particular gracefulness, strength-with We the amusedlaughter-of armed fedayeen. werenotonlyatthedawnof but frost pre-revolution ina sensuallimbo.A cystallizing gavea gentleness to every action.

12 JOURNAL OF PALESTINE STUDIES

and Constantly, everyday for a month,alwaysin Ajloun, I saw a skinny strong but woman crouching thecold,crouching theAndean in like Indians certain or BlackAfricans, untouchables Tokyo,theTziganes the of atmarket, to in ready takeoff suddenly case ofdanger, under trees front in a of theguardhouse, small,hastily erected permanent structure. was She waiting barefoot herblackdresstrimmed in with braidat thehemand on theedgeofthesleeves.Herfacewasseriousbutnotill-tempered, but tired The commandoleaderwould preparea nearly not weary. empty room, he then wouldsignal her.She wouldenter room,closing door,but the the it. notlocking Then she would come out,without wordor a smile,and a barefoot very and to wouldreturn Jerash to Baq'a camp.I found and erect, in outthat theroomreserved herintheguardhouse usedto takeoff for she her two black skirts, removethe envelopesand the letters sewninside, bundlethemtogether knock once on thedoor. Turning letters and the overto theleadershe wouldgo out and leavewithout a saying word.She wouldcome back thenextday. Other older women would laughbecause fora home theyhad only three blackenedstoneswhich, JebelHussein(Amman),they at gleefully referred as "our house." Theyshowedme thethree to and somestones, timestheglowing and coals, withsuch childlike voices,laughing saying: "darna." These old womenbelongedneither therevolution to the to nor whichhas lost all hope. The sun Palestinian resistance: theyweremirth its above them continued journey.An armor an extended created finger thin an an increasingly shadow.Butwhatland?Jordan, through administrative Amerand politicalfiction createdby France,England, Turkey, ica...... "Mirthwhich has lostall hope," mostjoyful becauseitis themost existedwhenthey desperate. They stillsaw a Palestinewhichno longer had a land.Theywereneither weresixteen, finally but undernoron they in a disturbing movement a wrong was one. top ofit,but space where any and Under the bare feetof theseoctogenarian supremely eleganttragedienneswas the earthsolid? It was less and less true.After havingfled the Hebron underIsraelithreats earthhereseemedsolid,everyone was in theArabiclanguage. timewent As and lighthearted movedsensuously this:thePalestinians werelessand less bytheearthseemedto experience bearable thesametime these as these at samePalestinians, peasant-farmers, the werediscovering of movement, walking, running, pleasure ideasdealt like playing the weapons assembled,disasout nearly everyday cards, sembledand used. Each ofthewomenspeaksin turn. Theyare laughing. One of themis reported have said: to

SHATILA

13

"Heroes! Whata joke! I gavebirth and spankedfiveor six of them to who are in thejebel.I wipedtheir bottoms.I knowwhatthey're madeof, and I can makesome more." In the ever-blue sky the sun has continuedits journey,but it is still warm.These tragediennes remember imagine the same time.To and at whatthey they emphasize at say pointtheir finger theendofa sentence and the stress emphatic consonants. Should a Jordanian soldierhappenbyhe in would be delighted: therhythm thesentences would rediscover of he therhythm Bedouindances.Withoutthesentences, Israelisoldier, of an shouldhe see thesegoddesses, wouldempty automatic his rifle intotheir skulls.
* * *

Here in the ruinsof Shatila thereis nothing left.A few silentold behinda door where white a clothis nailed.As for womenhastily hiding I willmeetsome in Damascus. thevery young fedayeen, You can selecta particular community otherthanthatof yourbirth, whereas arebornintoa people; thisselection based on an irrational is you which notto saythat is affinity, justicehas no role,butthisjusticeand the defense thiscommunity takeplace because of an emotionalentire of perhapsintuitive, sensual-attraction;I am French,but I defendthe Palestinians wholeheartedly automatically. and Theyare in theright because I love them. ButwouldI love themifinjustice notturned had them intoa wandering people? Almostall thebuildings Beirut havebeen hit,in whatthey in stillcall West Beirut. They crumblein different ways:like puff pastry squeezed of betweenthefingers some indifferent voraciousgiantKingKong; and the leandeliciously an elegant in times topthree four or floors other pleat, a giving sortofLebanesedraping thebuilding. one facadeis intact, to If go If wallswillbe shell-pocked. thefour wallsare aroundthehouse;theother withno cracks,the bomb dropped by the airplanefellin the standing center madea holeoutofwhatwasthestaircase theelevator and and shaft. In WestBeirut, after Israelis the S. arrived, toldme:"Nighthad fallen; it musthavebeen seveno'clock. All of a suddenthere was a loud clank, clank.Everybody, sister, brother-in-law I ranouton the and clank, my my was verydark. And everyonce in a whiletherewas balcony.The night like less something lightning thana hundred yards away.You knowthat us almost acrossfrom there a kindofIsraeli is command a post:four tanks, and house occupiedby soldiers, officers guards.Night. And theclanking

14 JOURNAL OF PALESTINE STUDIES

noise is getting closer.The lightning;fewlittorches. a And forty fifty or kids about twelveor thirteen yearsold beatingrhythmically little on eitherwithrocksor hammers something jerrycans, or else. They were La screaming, chanting: ilahilla Allah,la Kataebwa la yahoud (Thereis no God but Allah;no to theKataeb;no to theJews.)" H. said to me: "When you came to Beirutand Damascus in 1928 Damascuswasdestroyed. General Gouraudandhistroops, Moroccanand Tunisianinfantry, been shooting cleanedout Damascus.Whom had and did theSyrian people accuse?" Me: "The Syrians blamedFrance themassacres thedestruction for and in Damascus." in He: "We blame Israelforthemassacres Shatilaand Sabra. Don't of two onlyblametheKataebwho replacedthem.Israelis guilty allowing themordersand of companiesof Kataeb to enterthe camps,of giving themforthreedaysand nights, bringing themfood and encouraging of of the drink, lighting campsat night." H. again,professor history: 1917 Abraham's of "In trick brought was up to date,or ifyou prefer, God was alreadytheprefiguration Lord of Balfour.The Jewsused to say and still say that God had promised a Abrahamand his descendents land of milkand honey.But thisland, which of didn'tbelongto theGod oftheJews (thislandwasfull gods),this who had their own gods,and who land was inhabited theCanaanites, by the Arkofthe fought against Joshua's troopsandendedup stealing famous whichtheJews wouldnever havewon. And England, without Covenant, in 1917, didn'tyetruleoverPalestine (thatlandofmilkand honey)since it had not yetbeen signed." thetreaty giving a mandate ...." "Beginclaimsthathe came to thecountry Does thatPole strike "That's thenameofa movie:TheLongAbsence. you as theheirto Solomon?" of In thecamps,after dreamed their of twenty years exile,therefugees Palestine, and no one dared to thinkor say thatIsraelhad destroyed it that where barley the field beenthere a bank, had was from tobottom, top vinehad grown. wherea climbing and a powerstation "Shall we replacethegateto thefield?" "We'll have to rebuildpartof thewall nextto thefigtree." "All thepans mustbe rusted: buyan emery-cloth." to "Maybe we shouldhook up electricity thebarn." "Oh no, no more hand-embroidered dresses: you can get me one machine sewing for and one forembroidering."

SHATILA

15

The old people ofthecampswerewretched; they mayalso havebeen but so in Palestine there nostalgia playeda magical role.Theymayremain prisoners thecamp'sunhappy of spell.Itis notcertain that thisPalestinan groupwillleavethecampswithregret. thissense,extreme In destitution makesyou yearn thepast. The man who has knownthis,alongwith for has and impossible bitterness knowna joy whichis extreme, to solitary on The communicate. Jordanian campsperched therocky slopesarebare, butaroundthemthere a moredesolatebarrenness: is tents with shanties, holes in theminhabitedby familieswhose pride glows. Anyonewho obviousdestitution deniesthatmencan becomefondand proudoftheir can understands of nothing thehumanheart;they be proudbecause this obviousdestitution veilsa hiddenglory. The solitude of the dead in Shatila camp was even more palpable had and had becausethey gestures poseswhich Dead any they notplanned. old how. Dead and abandoned. Yet around us, in the camp, all the the and who affection, tenderness love floatedin searchof Palestinians would neveranswer. families wholeft withArafat, "What can we sayto their in trusting the promises Reagan, whohad assuredthem of Mitterrand Perini, and that the How can we explainthat civilianpopulationof thecampswould be safe? we allowedchildren, people and womento be massacred, thatwe old and are abandoning their How can we tellthemthat bodies without prayers? we don't knowwheretheyare buried?" The massacres nottakeplace in silenceand darkness. byIsraeli Lit did to the flares, Israeliswerelistening Shatilaas earlyas Thursday evening. as what Whatpartying, feasting wenton there deathseemedto takepartin and thepranks soldiersdrunkon wine,on hatred, probably of drunkon which listening, was thejoy ofentertaining Israeliarmy the looking, giving them I didn'tsee thisIsraeliarmy on. and encouragement, egging listening I watching. saw whatit did. To theargument: Whatdid Israelgainbyassassinating Bashir: entering orderand preventing bloodbath. the Beirut, reestablishing WhatdidIsrael Answer: what itgainby massacre? gainintheShatila did Whatdid itgainbybombing civilian the Lebanon? entering for population two months; hunting down and destroying Palestinians? What did it by wantto gainin Shatila:thedestruction Palestinians. of Itkillsmen,itkillscorpses.ItrazesShatila.Itis notuninterested the in realestatespeculation theimproved on land: it's worth fivemillionold francs squareyard stillinruins.But"cleanedup" itwillbe worth ? per ....

16 JOURNAL OF PALESTINE STUDIES

I amwriting in Beirut this where, perhaps becausedeathis so close,still lying theground, on everythingtruer is thaninFrance: everything seemsto be happening if,weary tired beingan example, being as and of of untouchable, of taking advantage whatit believesit has become-the vengeful of saint of the Inquisition-Israel had decided to allow itself to be judgedcoldly. it Thanksto a skillful predictable but metamorphosis, is now whatit colonialist a way in a haslongbeenbecoming: loathsome, temporal power, whichit become theDefinitive whichfewdare to imitate, having Judge curseas muchas to itschosenstatus. owes to itslongstanding Manyquestionsremain. IftheIsraelis to merely up thecamp,listened it, heardtheshotsfired lit by so manyguns,whose spentshellsI kickedunderfoot (tens of thouskinbykilling? The Who wasrisking their sands),whowasactually firing? The Who? And how many? Phalangists? Haddadists? And for Whathappenedto theweaponsresponsible all thesecorpses? In themselves? thepartof whatabouttheweaponsofthosewhodefended I thecamp whichI visited, saw onlytwo unusedanti-tank weapons. How did theassassinsgetintothecamps?Were theIsraelisat all the In at exitsto Shatila? anycase, on Thursday theywerealready theAkka Hospital,acrossfromone camp entrance. entered Shatila to the According thenewspapers, Israelis campas soon as they knewabout themassacres, and theystoppedthemimmediately, do the that on Saturday. whatdid they with slayers where But and have is, they gone? After assassination BashirGemayeland twenty his friends, the of of of the Mrs. B., a member theBeirut after massacres, upperclass,cameto back from Shatila.She climbed see me whenshe foundout I was coming I theeight floorsof thebuilding-no electricity;suppose she is elderly, but elegant elderly. Bashir's before massacres, wereright tellme the to "Before death, you thattheworstwas about to happen.I saw it." "Please don't tellme whatyou saw in Shatila.I am too highly strung, I mustkeep mystrength facetheworstwhichis stillto come." and to She livesalone with husband(seventy her years old) and hermaidina Her in largeapartment Ras Beirut.She is veryelegant.Very refined. furniture antique,Louis XVI, I think. is "We knewthatBashirhad goneto Israel.He was wrong. elected An head of stateshould not associatewithpeople like that.I was surethat

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awful something wouldhappento him.ButI don'twanttohearaboutit.I the have to save mystrength withstand terrible to blows thatare yetto was letter which Begin in Mr. come.Bashir going givebackthat to callshim mydearfriend." The upperclass,withitssilentservants, itsown wayof resisting. has Mrs.B. and herhusband"don't quitebelievein metempsychosis." What willhappenifthey reborn Israelis? are as The dayof Bashir'sburialis also thedaytheIsraeliarmy enters West Beirut.The explosionsgetcloser to the buildingwherewe are; finally in their everyone goesto theshelter thebasement. Ambassadors, doctors, to wivesand daughters, UN representative Lebanon,their a servants. "Carlos,bring a pillow." me "Carlos,myglasses." "Carlos,a little water." in as The servants, areaccepted theshelter they too, also speakFrench. be their their Itmay necessary look after to them, wounds, transport the to or whata predicament! hospital thecemetery, You haveto knowthatthePalestinian campsofShatilaand Sabra are little eventhealleys madeup ofmiles and milesofnarrow alleys-forhere, so thatsometimestwo people cannot walk are so skinny, thread-like with unlessone walkssideways-strewn cement together rubbish, blocks, underthelight the multi-colored of bricks, dirty rags,and thatat night, whichlit up thecamps,fifteen twenty or even well-armed Israeliflares out thisslaughter. The killers fighters would have been unableto carry werenumerous, probably and workedand they accompanied torture by cut squads who splitskulls,slashedthighs, offarms,handsand fingers, the anddragged dying theend ofa rope,menand womenwhowerestill at sinceblood had flowed from bodiesfora longtime, muchthat the so alive I wasunabletodetermine this of who,inthehallofa house,hadleft trickle was a pool as faras the the driedblood, from end of thehall wherethere intothedust.Was it a Palestinian man?A doorstepwhereit disappeared A woman? Phalangist whosebodyhad been removed? one FromParis, canentertain doubtsaboutthewholething, especially ifone knowsnothing about thelayoutofthecamps.One can allowIsrael werethefirst report from to to claimthatthejournalists the Jerusalem How did they massacre. and in Arabic? phraseit fortheArab countries when? And exactly And how in English French? and Just think about the a precautions surrounding suspiciousdeath in the West, fingerprints, and In ballistics testimonies counter-testimonies!Beireports, autopsies,

18 JOURNAL OF PALESTINE STUDIES

rut,scarcelyhad the massacrebecome knownthanthe Lebanesearmy took of officially charge thecampsandimmediately eradicated ruins the of the houses and the remainsof the bodies. Who ordered this haste? Especiallyafter thisstatement sweptthe worldthatChristians had and Muslimshad killedeach other, and evenafter camerashad recorded the of brutality theslayings. Akka Hospital,occupiedby theIsraelis, and acrossfrom entrance an from camp,butforty. the to Shatila,is nottwohundred yards Theysaw nothing, heardnothing, understood nothing? Because that'sjust whatBegindeclaredto the Knesset:"Goyim kill come to hangtheJews." go-im,and they I mustconclude mydescription Shatila,whichwas briefly of interHerearethebodiesI sawlast,on Sunday, abouttwoo'clock inthe rupted. whentheInternational Crosscame in withitsbulldozers. Red afternoon, The stenchof deathwas comingneither froma house nor a victim: my seemedto emitit. In a narrow in body,mybeing, street, theshadowofa wall, I thoughtI saw a black boxer sitting the ground,laughing, on to to surprised havebeenknockedout. No one had had theheart close his his as and eyelids, eyesas white porcelain bulging at out,werelooking me. He seemedcrestfallen, hisarmraised, with this leaning aginst angleofthe wall. He was a Palestinian who had been dead two or threedays. If I himatfirst a blackboxeritis becausehisheadwasenormous, mistook for and black,likeall theheadsand all thebodies,whether thesun swollen in I or intheshadowofthehouses.I walkednearhisfeet. pickedup an upper dentalplatein thedustand setit on whatremained thewindowledge. of The palmofhishandopen towards sky, open mouth, opening the his the in hispantswhere beltwas missing: hiveswhere the all flieswerefeeding. I stepped Thereinthedust,inthespace overone corpse,then another. was at lasta very between twobodies,there the in living object,intact the a carnage, translucent pinkobject whichcould stillbe used: an artificial in a leg,apparently plastic, and wearing blackshoe and a gray sock. As I looked closer,it becameclearthatit had been brutally off wrenched the thatusuallyhelditto thethigh amputated becausethestraps leg, wereall broken. Thisartificial belonged thesecondbody,theone on whichI had to leg a noticedonlyone legwitha footwearing blackshoe and a gray sock. In the street perpendicular the one whereI leftthe threebodies, to It there another. wasnotcompletely was the blocking way,butitwaslying at theentrance thestreet thatI had to walkbyitand turn of so aroundto

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see thesight: seatedon a chair, surrounded fairly by young silent and men a and women, woman-in Arabdress-was sobbing; could havebeen she sixteenor sixty.She was crying over her brotherwhose body almost blockedtheway.I camecloserto her.I looked morecarefully. had a She scarftiedaroundher neck. She was crying, the mourning deathof her next her.Herfacewaspink, babypink, samecolorall over, brother to a the very soft, tender, without but eyelashes eyebrows, whatI thought or and was pinkwas not thetop layerof skinbut an underlayeredgedin gray skin.Herwholefacewasburned.I don'tknowbywhat, I understood but by whom. Withthefirst bodies, I triedto countthem.When I gotto twelve or fifteen, surrounded thesmell, sun,stumbling each ruin, was the by over it impossible; becameconfused. everything I haveseen lotsofcrumbling buildings gutted and housesspilling out and eiderdown havenotbeenmoved,butwhenI lookedat thosein West Beirut and ShatilaI saw fear.The dead generally become veryfamiliar, evenfriendly me,butwhenI sawthoseinthecampsI perceived to onlythe hatred joy ofthosewho had killedthem.A barbaric and had party taken placethere: rage, drunkenness, dances,songs,curses,laments, moans,in honorofthevoyeurs whowerelaughing thetopfloor AkkaHospital. on of In France, before Algerian the war,theArabsweren't beautiful, their gaitwas awkward, shuffling, had uglymugs,and almostsuddenly they madethem victory but before was beautiful; a little while victory assured, morethanhalfa millionFrenchsoldierswerestraining dying the and in Auresand throughout a Algeria, curiousthing happenedto thefacesand of theArab workers: liketheintimation, hintof a bodies the something stillfragile whichwas goingto blindus whenthescalesfinally beauty fell fromtheirskin and our eyes. We had to admit it: theyhad achieved in freedom orderto be seen as theywere:very beautiful. the In political same way, once theyhad escaped fromthe refugee camps, fromthe and a morality theorderofthecamps,from morality imposedbytheneed to survive, once theyhad at the same timeescaped fromshame,the werevery and fedayeen beautiful; sincethisbeautywas new,shallwe say pristine, naive, it was fresh,so alive that it discoveredat once what connected it to all the beauties of the world, freeingthemselves from shame. Lots of Algerian pimps walking through Pigalleat nightused their charms theservice theAlgerian in of revolution. Virtue also there. is was It I believe, whodistinguishes HannahArendt, between revolutions accord-

20 JOURNAL OF PALESTINE STUDIES

or ing to whether theyaspire to freedom virtue-and therefore work. Perhapswe should also recognize thatrevolutions liberations or aimor thatis theintangible, obscurely-at discovering rediscovering beauty, unnamable hand:letus meanby exceptbythisword.Butno, on theother a laughing insolence and beauty goadedbypastunhappiness, systems men for and shame,above all a laughing responsible unhappiness insolence is of whichrealizes freed shame,growth easy. that, But on thispage we should also addressthefollowing question:is a a whenithas notremoved from faces bodiesthe revolution revolution and madethemugly? am notspeaking dead skinthat I aboutacademicbeauty, but about theintangible-unnamable-joyof bodies,faces,cries,words I which no longer are that cheerless, meana sensualjoy so strong it chases all eroticism. away
* * *

Here I am againin Ajloun, in Jordan, thenin Irbid.I removewhatI believeis one ofmywhite hairsfrom sweater putit on thekneeof and my nearme. He takesitbetween thumb his Hamza,sitting and middlefinger, looks at it, smiles,puts it in the pocket of his black jacket,and pats it saying: "A hairfrom Prophet's the beatd is worth less thanthat." He takesa slightly deeperbreath and starts over: "A hairfrom Prophet's the beardis not worth morethanthat." He was only twenty-two yearsold, his thoughts leaped easilyhigh above the Palestinians who wereforty, he was alreadybearingthe but on signs-on himself, his body,in his actions-which linkedhimto the olderones. In theold daysfarmers used to blow their nosesin their fingers. Then theyflippedthe snot into the thorns.They wiped theirnoses on their which theend ofa month at werecoveredwith pearly corduroy a sleeves, luster. did thefedayeen. So nosesthesamewaynoblemen Theyblewtheir and churchmen took snuff: slightly stooped over. I did the same thing, whichthey me taught without realizing. And thewomen?Nightand day theyembroidered sevendresses the (one foreach day of the week) of theengagement trousseau givenby a older husbandchosen by the family, generally painfulawakening. The Palestinian whentheyrevolted girlsbecame verybeautiful against their fathers broke theirneedlesand embroidery and scissors.It was on the in mountains Ajloun,Saltand Irbid, theforests of themselves sensualthat

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ityhad come down,freed therevolution byguns,let'snot forget by and theguns.Thatwasenough, everyone happy.Withoutrealizing the was it, fedayeen-isit true?-wereperfectingnewbeauty: liveliness their a the of and actions their obviousfatigue, quickness brightness their the and of eyes, theclearer toneofvoiceharmonized withtheswiftness brevity the and of reply. Withitsprecision too. Theyhad done awaywithlongsentences, learned glibrhetoric. and for ManydiedinShatila, myfriendship, affection their and my rotting corpses was also immense,because I had known them. Blackened, werestillfedayeen. swollen, decayedby thesun and by death,they Aroundtwo o'clock in theafternoon Sundaythree on soldiersfrom to an was theLebanesearmy droveme,at gunpoint, a jeep where officer I dozing. askedhim: "Do you speakFrench?" " English. " The voicewas dry,maybebecause I had awakenedit witha start. He and lookedat mypassport, said to me,in French: "Have youjustbeen there?" pointedto Shatila. He "Yes." " And did you see?" "Yes." "Are yougoingto write about it?" "Yes." He gavemebackmypassport. signaled to leave.The three He me rifles were lowered.I had spent four hours in Shatila. About forty bodies i6 All remained mymemory. ofthem-and I meanall-had beentortured, a the probably against backdropofdrunkenness, song,laughter, smellof flesh. and of gunpowder already decaying I was probablyalone, I mean the only European (with a few old womenstillclinging a tornwhitecloth;witha fewyoung Palestinian to but unarmed fedayeen), if thesefiveor six humanbeingshad not been this blackand swollenPalestinthere I haddiscovered butchered and city, ians lying there,I would have gone crazy.Or did I? That citylyingin I whichI saw or thought saw, whichI walkedthrough, smithereens felt, I and whosedeathstench wore,had all thattakenplace?I had explored, and poorlyat that, of of onlya twentieth Shatilaand Sabra,nothing Bir Hassan,nothing Bourjal-Barajneh. of

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It's not because of my leaningsthatI lived through Jordanian the periodas ifit werea fairy tale.Europeansand NorthAfrican Arabshave As told me about thespellthatkeptthemthere. I livedthrough long this for or spanofsixmonths, barely coloredbynight twelve thirteen hours,I the of the discovered ethereality whatwas happening, exceptional quality of of thefedayeen, I had a premonition thefragility thestructure. of but in Everywhere Jordan where Palestinian the had nearthe army assembled, werecheckpoints where fedayeen the wereso sureof Jordan River,there their of or rights their and might thearrival a visitor, night byday, that by was for at one ofthecheckpoints a pretext tea,fortalkmixedwith bursts oflaughter brotherly and kisses(theone they embraced wouldbe leaving crosstheJordan Riverto plantbombs in Palestine thatnight, and often The wouldnotreturn). onlyislandsofsilenceweretheJordanian villages; seemed to be walking theykept theirmouthsshut. All the fedayeen of liketheeffect a very slightly above theground, light glassof wineor a hashish. dragon a little What was it?Youth,obliviousofdeathand with Czechand Chineseweaponsto fire intotheair.Protected weaponsthat by afraid anything. of talkedso big,thefedayeen weren't and knowsthat Anyreader whohas seena mapofPalestine Jordan the landis notlikea sheetofpaper.AlongtheJordan Riverthelandis inhigh relief.This whole escapade should have been subtitledA Midsummer Dream spiteoftheflare-ups in the between forty-year-old Night's leaders. All that possiblebecauseofyouth, joy ofbeingunderthetrees, was the of withweapons,of beingaway fromwomen,in otherwords,of playing and conjuring awaya difficult problem,of beingthebrightest themost of the forward pointoftherevolution, having approvalofthepopulation ofthecamps, beingphotogenic matter or no of and what, perhaps foreseetale the ingthatthisrevolutionary fairy might soon be defiled: fedayeen had freedom. didn'twantpower;they At the Damascus airporton my way back fromBeirutI met some the who had escapedfrom Israelihell.Theyweresixteen young fedayeen or seventeen. werelaughing; wereliketheones in Ajloun.They They they willdie likethem.The struggle a country filla very for can richlife, a but shortone. Thatwas thechoice,as we recall,of Achillesin theIliad.
Translated Daniel R. Dup&her by and Martha Perrigaud