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PETER'S NEW YORK, Friday, September 2, 2011--Sirte, Libya, is said to be surrounded by rebel forces antagonistic to the inhabitans of the city--the hometown of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, whom the rebels wish to overthrow. In the meantime, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) aircraft continue to bomb the city, under the pretext of shielding civilians from Qaddafi's forces, pending the city's "surrender." One is reminded of the massacre at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Lebanon. A brief history is provided by Wikipedia:
"The Sabra and Shatila massacre took place in the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut, Lebanon between September 16 and September 18, 1982, during the Lebanese civil war. Palestinian and Lebanese civilians were massacred in the camps by Christian Lebanese Phalangists while the camp was surrounded by the Israel Defense Force."
"...[A}a Maronite group, also called Lebanese Forces militia group, entered the camp and murdered inhabitants during the night. The exact number of victims is disputed, from 700--800 to 3,500 (depending on the source)."
"Israeli forces enabled the entrance of the angry Kataeb Party group to the refugee camps, by providing them transportation from outside Beirut and firing illuminating flares over the camps."
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