What happened to the synagogue in Lebanon in 1982?
In the year 1982, Israel was shelling Beirut and they hit Beirut's only synagogue, Maghen Avraham, damaging it.
The original New York Times article on that is here:
http://pierretristam.com/Bobst/library/wf-273.htm
Now, a certain person in these forums who lives there has said that the Jews who took refuge in the synagogue that night were killed (approx. 60 of them) by that shell.
When he first said this, I pointed out this NY Times article which makes no mention of anyone being killed by that assault. He didn't agree with the NY Times. (Specifically, his words were "for your information that paper is run by Israel so they print what they're told".)
Fine. But the end result is that I have no proof that what he is claiming is true nor do I have any reason to believe him merely on his say-so.
That being the case, does anyone have any evidence that what he claims is true? (e.g. other legitimate news agencies that will confirm what he says.)
misheard, I have made absolutely no point whatsoever over the incident itself whether it is OK to deliberately shell a synagogue.
I'm merely curious as to the facts of the incident as they were alleged by this certain person.
After all, the first time I asked him to supply proof (after noticing that there was no mention of fatalities in the NY Times article) and he failed to do so. Recently, he brought it up on his own and got a little ornery (if that is the word) that I didn't believe him.
After all, it is one thing to say that Israel damaged the synagogue. (Which, as we all acknowledge, happened.) It is quite another thing to say that Israel killed 60 people in the process IF that didn't happen. I do not have high hopes that the person in question will actually bring proof but maybe there are others who know better. So far, that doesn't seem to be the case either.
I might also note that just before I DELIBERATELY used the word "deliberately". My point by that is that while it is not questioned that the synagogue was damaged by Israel, there is no evidence (at least as far as I have seen on the basis of the little information I can glean from the article and a few other sources) that it was DELIBERATELY targeted.
To answer you, the article is correct, the member has no clue what he talks about, posts always anti Israeli propaganda, the synagogue was seriously damaged during the 1975-1990 Lebanese civil war ..The synagogue was subjected to looting and vandalism ,and seriously damaged in fighting between Muslim and Christian forces and looters stole its Torah ark and prayer benches and gutted its electrical system.
No one died there ! matter of fact the building stood desolate !
"Community members met with Hariri several times, mainly to discuss Lebanese Jewry?s famous Magen Avraham synagogue, built during the 1920?s and a community wide source of pride.
Arabs rioters had vandalized the unique building in 1982, and the synagogue stood desolate next to the empty Talmud Torah (religious elementary school). Then, after two decades of war, Hariri, a former real estate investor, wanted to rehabilitate the Lebanese capital."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3292543,00.html
Well, since I haven't seen credible information suggesting otherwise, since some undeniably anonymous poster is challenging a perfectly credible newspaper (which, BTW, if it were run by Israel there would be differences in how the handle the Israel-Palestine conflict).
I have to point out that Israel attacked the Synagogue because it was believed to be housing weapons to be used against Israel. If people were killed, I do have to point out certain things: Were they aware of the weapons, where they allowing them to be stored there, were they consenting to using them against others, were some of them going to use the weapons themselves? It's not a black and white issue.
I don't think you will find the evidence. I could be wrong, but if Israel is indeed responsible for their deaths other questions need to be answered.
Point of clarification- is it your position that the poster is incorrect or deceitful, but it is perfectly fine for the IDF to shell a synagogue housing refugees? Since I could find no evidence one way or another and since logic and pictures of the building would dictate that if you blow a hole in its roof with artillery, there is bound to be casualties (I have found no numbers) but strangely enough there wasn't the usual- "But no injuries were reported". What is not in doubt is the synagogue WAS housing both Jewish and Muslim refugees and most definitely was shelled by the IDF.
@dean, I have not seen any evidence that the synagogue was housing weapons, but it is curious to see some of the other posters trying to belittle the IDF shelling, or in dandle case, ignore it but concentrate on "Muslim looting". Even to go as far to say the synagogue was deserted, which even BMCR does not claim- the synagogue was the center for up to 100 Jewish families until the war with Lebanon. The article also claims "Jewish residents say they have not been harassed by their Moslem neighbors or the Palestinians since the Israelis invaded Lebanon on June 6. [1982]"
Don't ya just love Zionist logic?
Here's another prime example- we have here a link "proving" Arab vandalism from shay- let's look. First, there is no source, it is an interview with a 70 year old man that contradicts the link supplied by BMCR that man claims "Arabs rioters had vandalized the unique building in 1982, and the synagogue stood desolate " Second- there is no mention of the IDF shelling, but it does mention the place had no roof (but not WHY). A clear attempt at trying to make Arabs the villain. So a synagogue was shelled by Israeli forces, driving the Jews away. The now empty building was then looted by Arabs- as I'm sure many shelled out buildings everywhere in the world are. The truth is the Jews were not mistreated around the synagogue (by their own testimony). The synagogue was empty because of IDF shelling- not because of looting or Lebanese threats.
Why is it so impossible for Zionists to admit Israel did ONE, JUST ONE thing wrong?!!
@BMCR point taken, but the neighborhood that the Lebanese Jews lived in was REPEATEDLY shell...once could be an accident, I don't dispute that, and I never claimed the synagogue was deliberately shelled. But if you look at some of the answers here, the impression given is that it was an abandoned building that had been looted by a bunch of Arabs anyway. This is NOT the case. The synagogue was obviously in use as Jewish families were taken shelter inside of it. the Jews of Beirut left because their homes and synagogue were being shelled. This is why the Zionist mindset is so dangerous- and not just Zionist but others who try to excuse the wrongs they have done and attack the victim. You'll never hear me say that suicide bombers don't happen, or that snipers have taken shots at settlers- because that's not true. You'll never hear me say that Arabs didn't kill innocents in Hebron or Tel Aviv, because that's not true. Reasons can be debated, but events can't. A Zionist gets around inconvenient truths by simply denying they occurred.
What happened to the synagogue in Lebanon in 1982?
