Sabra and Shatila — 44 Years of an Open Wound

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 16, 2026

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Today, 44 years later, we remember one of the darkest massacres in Lebanon’s modern history.

From September 16–18, 1982, Palestinian refugees and Lebanese civilians were massacred in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Beirut. Most of the victims were Palestinian refugees, including women, children, and the elderly. More than 3,000 people were massacred in cold blood.

Lebanese Phalangist militias carried out the killings, while Israeli forces controlled and surrounded the camps and had effective control over the area. Israeli forces permitted the Phalangist militias to enter the camps, and Israeli commanders received warnings about the danger of bloodshed but failed to take adequate measures to stop it.

The United Nations Security Council condemned the “criminal massacre of Palestinian civilians.” The UN General Assembly subsequently condemned the massacre in the strongest terms and declared it an act of genocide.

Israel’s own Kahan Commission of Inquiry later found the State of Israel indirectly responsible for the massacre. It found then-Defense Minister Ariel Sharon personally responsible for ignoring the danger of bloodshed and revenge and for failing to take appropriate measures to prevent it. The commission recommended his removal as Defense Minister. Sharon was elected prime minister a few years later.

Yet 44 years on, meaningful criminal accountability for those responsible remains elusive.

Sabra and Shatila was not an isolated tragedy. Its victims were overwhelmingly Palestinian refugees who had already endured dispossession and exile in the 1948 Nakba. Their lives were taken in the very place where they had sought refuge.

We remember the victims.
We remember the families who continue to carry this loss.
We remember because history must never be erased, minimized, or rewritten.

Sabra and Shatila remains a profound reminder of the consequences of impunity and of the imperative to protect civilian life and uphold human rights without exception.

On this solemn anniversary, ADC honors the victims and stands with their families and with the Palestinian and Lebanese communities in calling for justice, accountability, dignity, freedom, and the realization of the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people.

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About ADC

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) is the largest Arab American grassroots organization in the United States, founded in 1980 by former Senator James Abourezk.  ADC’s mission is to defend and promote the human rights, civil rights, and liberties of at least 3.7 million Arab Americans residing in the United States. Through its work, ADC fights discrimination, enhances public understanding of Arab history and culture, and partners with marginalized communities globally to advance social justice.