BBC NEWS | Programmes | Panorama (original) (raw)

The Accused
Sunday 17 June 2001

**Programme Update - 10 July 2001:**This article first appeared in the Op-Ed section of the Jerusalem Post on 10 July 2001.

BBC correspondent Fergal Keane answered your questions on the issues raised in the programme.

Nearly 20 years ago the man who is now Israel's Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, sent Lebanese militiamen into the Palestine refugee camps of Sabra and Shatilla. When they left 36 hours later at least 800 people lay dead after a rampage of murder, torture and rape.

The massacre provoked international outrage. In Israel itself 400,000 people took to the streets in the largest demonstration the country had ever seen. Ariel Sharon was forced to resign as Israel's defence minister.

But he has maintained that he could not have foreseen the danger of a massacre in the camps. Fergal Keane investigates this claim, and talks to key witnesses and survivors of the massacre.

In the light of developments in international war crimes prosecutions the programme asks whether the evidence should lead to indictments for what happened in the camps.

See also:

BBC's Panorama comes under fire for its investigation into the role of Ariel Sharon in the massacre of civilians in Lebanon 20 years ago.

Internet Links:

Full report of the 1983 Israeli inquiry into the Sabra and Shatila massacres

Production Team:
Reporter Fergal Keane
Producer Aidan Laverty
Assistant Producer Darren Kemp