The Sons of Eilaboun

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The Sons of Eilaboun
Directed by	Hisham Zreiq (Zrake)
Written by	Hisham Zreiq
Music by	Marcel Khalife Duncan Patterson
Cinematography	Amir Rishpon
Language	Arabic and English

The Sons of Eilaboun is a documentary film by the Palestinian artist and film maker Hisham Zreiq (Zrake), that tells the story of one of the massacres committed by the newly formed Israeli army during Operation Hiram. The massacres committed in Eilaboun, a village in the northern Galilee between Nazareth and the sea of Galilee. In the massacre of Eilaboun 14 men were killed, 12 of them were executed in cold blood. The village people were expelled to Lebanon and became refugees for few months. The villagers eventually managed to return clandestinely.

[edit] Synopsis

As part of Operation Hiram, On October 30, 1948 the Israeli army entered Eilaboun, a then Christian village in the northern Galilee between Nazareth and the sea of Galilee. Most of the villagers were hiding in the two village churches.

The soldiers ordered the people to gather in the village square, while going out of the Catholic Church the soldiers shot at the people killing an old man, making him the first victim. The soldiers chose 17 men, and ordered the village to walk to Maghar, a village 5 km to the north of Eilaboun. Shortly after the people left the village, the soldiers executed 12 of the chose young men in cold blood, and 5 were taking to drive an army vehicle as human shield and later sent to P.O.W camp. The Israeli army had looted Eilaboun but left the houses.

When the villagers reached Maghar, the soldiers ordered them to continue to Kafr 'Inan, where the near Kafr Inan another man was killed, making the number of victims 14. Kafr 'Inan and Eilaboun were both expelled to Farradiyya, a near by village. The Israeli soldiers gathered the people of Eilaboun, Kafr 'Inan and Farradiyya (al-Farradiyya), looted the people and took all what worth, they spent the night in Farradiyya. In the morning the Israeli soldiers separated the women, children and the old from the men. The men from the 3 villages were sent to P.O.W camps, the women, children and the old of the 3 villages were marched to Mirun where they spent 3 nights without any food or water. At Mirun, the Israelis put everyone in two cattle trucks, and took them to Rmeish (in Lebanon). Kafr 'Inan and Farradiyya were later razed to the ground by the Israeli army.

About fifty two villagers were left in the village, mainly old people and children. The priests complained bitterly about the expulsion of the villagers and demanded their return. Following a UN investigation and pressure activated by the Vatican, the villagers eventually managed to return clandestinely. After 6 months from the massacre most of the villagers managed to come back from Lebanon, and all the men were released from the P.O.W camps.

Eilaboun was the only village of the 532 villages expelled to return, the other 531 Palestinian villages were razed to the ground by the Israeli army, including garden walls and cemeteries.

In the film the Israeli historian Ilan Pappe introduce the history behind the events, and gives background about Plan Dalet. The Eilaboun people tell their sad story.