The Khan Yunis Massacre of 1956

 Hatred sometimes comes with an invitation. Imagine if you, too, would hate the Israelis, if you witnessed family members being rounded up and massacred. 
   It was way back in 1956. It received little international attention. To this day, when the Palestinian people recount the history of Israel's subjecting them to the sword, the Khan Yunis massacre goes unrecounted, lost in the dark shadow of time. But, those who were affected, and the generations that have followed, have not forgotten
  "They planted hatred in our hearts," said a man who was 9-years old at the time. He grew up to become a Hamas leader. Should we wonder at what  prompted him to join Hamas? Should we wonder what sparked his hatred of Israel?
   The people of Khan Yunis did not so quickly submit themselves to Israel when the Israelis rolled into town in 1956. Some (even if it were perhaps few) bore arms. Think of America, where people bear arms in defense of their freedom. Khan Yunis was a Palestinian town. Israel was coming to take that freedom away.
   It may have been token resistance, but it was greater than what Gaza City had offered. Gaza City was spared from such a massacre, but not Khan Yunis.
   It will be hard to determine how many of the people were registered soldiers in the Palestinian army and how many were merely citizens protecting their city same as you and I might do if a foreign force invaded.
   To the Israelis, all were Palestinian soldiers -- all of them -- every male age 16 to 50. The townspeople awoke the morning of Nov. 3 to the call for them, if they were age 15 to 50, to surrender themselves. We must assume the loudspeaker announcements made no mention of what would happen if they did turn themselves in. The men were taken to a public square, lined up in a row, and executed, shot in the back of their heads. Then, the soldiers combed the city, laying waste any who might have escaped the town square massacre. An Israeli soldier turned journalist recalled walking through the alleyways of the city, seeing bloody corpses, some with their heads shattered. He threw up. "I couldn't get used to the sight of human slaughterhouse," he said. 
   We need not become anti-Israel when we hear stories such as this. We need not take sides with Hamas. But, what becomes of our sense of justice? Do we have anything in our hearts that cries out for the Gazans? Do we come to realize just a little why the citizens of Gaza choose to side against Israel?