fbpx
Menu
עברית Search
Akevot
Homepage About News Publications Cataloging Podcast Tours/Lectures Donate Contact
English עברית
July 18th, 2018
Photo: Akevot
Relatives of massacre victims at the Military Court of Appeals.
62 years after the Kafr Qasim massacre: Legal action to declassify still-sealed trial records

On July 18th, we arrived at the Military Court of Appeals in Tel Aviv along with historian Adam Raz and residents of Kafr Qasim, who came to attend the final hearing in Raz’s application for the declassification of documents from the Kafr Qasim massacre trial that have been sealed ever since the trial in the late 1950s.

To this day, 62 years after the massacre, about 600 pages of transcripts and a list of documents filed as evidence in the trial of the eleven Border Police officers who were prosecuted in the case are still kept from the public. From what is known, these records largely relate to “Operation Mole”. What the operation was and what role it played in the massacre has been the subject of much speculation for decades, with no access to records that could corroborate or refute the rumors. At the hearing, the last of four held by Military Court of Appeals President Maj. Gen. Doron Piles, MK Esawi Frej (Meretz), a resident of the village, whose family was affected by the massacre, testified in the name of the victims’ and their families’ right to learn the truth, to receive all the information in state hands regarding the circumstances of the massacre and why it happened. “A democratic society faces its difficult moments too, the embarrassing, sad moments in its history”, Frej told the military court. “Sixty-two years later, the State of Israel, which is also my country, shouldn’t be afraid of the truth”.

Over the past year, Akevot Institute has been supporting Adam Raz in his research and his struggle to have the confidential material on the massacre declassified.

Read Haaretz coverage of the Military Court hearing.

  • January 28th, 2019
    Historian Adam Raz joins Akevot’s staff
    We’re happy to announce the recent addition to our staff of historian Adam Raz. Adam… Continue reading
  • December 23rd, 2018
    Search tool for the ISA Classified Records Catalogue
    Akevot Institute is releasing today an online search tool for the Classified Records Catalogue of… Continue reading
  • October 15th, 2018
    Netanyahu targets Akevot’s funding
    Prime Minister Netanyahu is working to stop a major funder from supporting Akevot Institute. This… Continue reading
  • October 4th, 2018
    Draft bill to extend RAP of Intelligence and other security archives by 20 years
    The legal counsel for the Israel State Archives has published a draft bill amending the… Continue reading
  • July 20th, 2018
    Availability of government archive catalogues: important progress at the Israel State Archives
    On July 19, the Israel State Archives (ISA) posted to its website a significant part… Continue reading
  • July 18th, 2018
    62 years after the Kafr Qasim massacre: Legal action to declassify still-sealed trial records
    On July 18th, we arrived at the Military Court of Appeals in Tel Aviv along… Continue reading
  • May 31st, 2018
    Conference: How policy on archive access hurts society and research, and how to fix it
    On Tuesday June 5, 2018 Akevot, together with many other partners, will be hosting a… Continue reading
  • September 3rd, 2017
    1.29%: state of access to Israeli government archives
    A new data sheet by Akevot shows roughly 99% of materials deposited in Israel’s major… Continue reading
  • July 21st, 2017
    Insurance against political risk: Akevot’s new research released
    Hundreds of archival records, now declassified at Akevot’s request, tell the story of the financial… Continue reading
  • June 23rd, 2017
    settlement jurisdiction: archived documents uncovered by Akevot submitted to the High Court of Justice
    The head of the council of Palestinian village of Jalud along with human rights group… Continue reading
<< 1 2 3 4 5 >>