Hedy Epstein, Palestinian rights advocate & Holocaust survivor, dies at 91

"Her “personal wake-up call,” however, were the Israel-backed Sabra and Shatila massacre. Israel invaded south Lebanon in 1982. With the support of the U.S., it subsequently waged a war in alliance with far-right, Phalangist Christian militias. In September 1982, Israeli-backed Phalangist militias slaughtered thousands of civilians in Sabra and Shatila, Beirut refugee camps largely inhabited by Palestinians who were expelled by Zionist militias in the war that established Israel in 1948. Renowned scholar Noam Chomsky called it “a horrifying massacre,” comparing it to the anti-Jewish pogroms that took place in Czarist Russia. Columbia University professor Rashid Khalidi noted that documents in the Israel State Archives “pin direct responsibility for much more of what happened in Sabra and Shatila on not only Ariel Sharon and the Israeli government, but reveal American responsibility for what happened.” " (thanks Amir)