September 16 1982 is one of the most painful dates in the Palestinian collective memory. Lebanese Phalangist militia, in collaboration with the Israeli army, stormed the Palestinian refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila in southern Beirut, butchering approximately three thousand unarmed Palestinian refugee men, women and children.

The decision to move into West Beirut has been taken by then Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Defense Minister Ariel Sharon, although it constituted a violation of the cease-fire. On the morning of September 15, the Israel Defense Force moved into West Beirut and completely occupied it, in spite of protest from the Lebanese and US Governments. The IDF did not enter Sabra and Chatila refugee camps, but surrounded and sealed them off with troops and tanks. The next day, the Israeli cabinet approved a decision to allow the Lebanese militia into the camps to carry out one of the worst massacres of the last century. The killing went on for two days, after which bulldozers were used to dig mass graves for the bodies that filled the alleys. A number of houses were also bulldozed to cover up the bodies of the victims.

Two months later, on December 16 1982, the United Nations General Assembly condemned the massacres as an act of genocide.

As we commemorate the 18th anniversary of this horrific event, we do not have to look far for other reminders of the inhumane atrocities committed by Israel against the Palestinian people, or of the urgency of achieving a comprehensive 'end to the conflict.'

However, one thing that we must not forget is the undeniable obligation of the State of Israel to come to terms with its own history and acknowledge the suffering it has inflicted upon the Palestinian people. Peace, or even peaceful co-existence, is not possible any other way - 'historical reconciliation' cannot be achieved without a 'historical confession.'

The massacres at Sabra and Shatila, gruesome as they were, are just two in a long list of barbaric massacres perpetrated by Israelis against the Palestinian people, including Tantura, Deir Yassin, Qana, Hebron and many more, in an 'untold holocaust' that has caused tens of thousands of Palestinians victims of Israeli brutality.