March 16 is an important date in York's history, the anniversary of the massacre at Clifford's Tower.
Since then there have been many more massacres. In 1948, at Deir Yassin, Israelis massacred more than 100 hundred civilian Palestinians and drove 300,000 refugees from their land.
In 1982 the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Lebanon were attacked and thousands of innocent civilians were killed.
Israel illegally occupies lands in the West Bank and Gaza. The wall cuts farmers off from their lands and family from family. They have destroyed orchards, olive groves and bulldozed thousands of homes. Illegal Israeli settlements spring up all over. All in defiance of the UN, against the Geneva Convention and despite strong criticism from the Red Cross.
Just this week Israel launched more bombing raids against Gaza.
The events of 1190 were remembered with a service today at 4pm. I will be there. I want to see a memorial park on the site. But there are no memorials to the dead at Deir Yassin.
Remember the slaughter that takes place every day in Palestine. When the IRA bombed mainland Britain, we did not bomb Dublin. The Israeli attacks against Palestine are the exact equivalent.
Rather than have ceremonies 800 years later, we should support those who work for peace in Palestine now.
Dave Berkeley,
Tower Place, York.
Updated: 10:54 Wednesday, March 17, 2004
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