Mohammed Raad

Above: Mohammed Raad, reflected in his television screen. Photograph by Philip Reynaers.

On Wednesday we were at home waiting for the visit. I was at Sabra and the roads were empty. When I arrived at Ali Hender’s cafe, I met some young men who called me over and asked if I knew. I said no. They said that the Israelis had entered with the Phalangists and that they were destroying things. I went straight home, got my wife and we went to her brother’s house. We said to him, “Abu Suheil, let’s get away from here.” He replied, “We are Lebanese, they won’t bother us.” I was with another relative and I said to him, “Leave your children and go.” He called me a coward. My wife and I started walking until we reached the bridge that leads to the airport, and from there I saw the Israelis surrounding the area. An Israeli soldier shouted at me. The Israelis started asking me where I had come from and where I was going; then they said to my wife and to another woman passing by to stay where they were before ordering me to follow them and wait by the mountain. But I was directly behind Harat Horeik and we escaped to Ghobeireh.

On Saturday we went back to see my relatives. What can I say: people were on their backs, black. I found my brother-in-law dead, he had been hit on the head with an axe; we found thirty other members of the family dead.

The above text is an extract from the Complaint lodged in Belgium against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Amos Yaron and other Israelis and Lebanese responsible for the massacre. The full text of the Complaint can be found in the section of this website titled The Case Against The Accused.

[The Sabra & Shatila Massacres]