Film claims 1967 Israeli ‘massacre’
Egyptians outraged after film claims Israel killed surrendered soldiers in 1967 war.
Mostafa Bakri, a member of the Egyptian parliament, said: “We reacted to the summary in the Israeli media about the film. The summary said Israeli soldiers confessed to killing Egyptian prisoners of war.
“The Egyptian government has failed so far in demanding to bring those responsible, including Ben Eliezer, to international justice or to extradite the Israeli ambassador from the country.”
Untold stories
Al Jazeera spoke to some of the survivors of the 1967 war, who said there were many untold stories despite the conflict lasting just seven days.
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“The Egyptians surrendered and the Israelis told them to lie on the ground before driving the tanks over the soldiers” Moussa al-Roweshid |
Moussa al Roweshid, who was 15 years old when the war started, is from
North Sinai, scene of some of the worst fighting.He said he believed the claims made in the Israeli documentary about the prisoners’ massacre because he witnessed some of the atrocities.
“The Egyptians ran out of ammunition after the Israelis cut off the supply roads. The Egyptians surrendered and the Israelis told them to lie on the ground before driving the tanks over the soldiers.
“There are other incidents near Abu Ejerem and Abu Hani wells on the sea coast. Just dig those places to find out the truth,” he said.
Documentary as evidence
Standing next to a cemetery, Rashid Khalil, now 75, said he remembered how Egyptian soldiers surrendered to the Israelis there.
“The Israelis got the soldiers to queue up and took their belongings. They told some to go to Nasser and the rest were shot dead. They forced Bedouins to bury the dead.”
Mahmoud Lotfi is a lawyer representing 23 Egyptian families still fighting to learn what happened to their relatives who went missing during the war.
He sees the issues raised in the documentary as a glimmer of hope for his clients.
Their case against Ariel Sharon, the former Israeli prime minister, was dismissed because of a lack of evidence. He now hopes to re-open the case using this documentary as evidence.
“We were patient and Israel has now given us the required evidence. These confessions in the film are our evidence.”