Welcome to Algeria Stamps

18th Anniversary of the Dir Yacine Massacre

On April 9, 1948, the Palestinian village of Dir-Yacine, located between Al Quds and Tel Aviv, was attacked in the early morning by Israeli militias. The Stern and Irgun militias killed men, women and children and implemented the Dalet plan, designed and directed by Menachem Begin, leader of the Irgun and future Prime Minister of the State of Israel. The village had put up a strong resistance and, by mid-morning, it had still not fallen. A unit of the Israeli army lent a hand to the attackers and succeeded in taking the village, before withdrawing to give free rein to a full-blown massacre committed by the two militias. By the end of the day, more than a hundred Palestinian villagers – old men, women and children – were killed. Some sources speak of more than 250 deaths. In a vain attempt to wash their hands of it, Israeli officials rushed to condemn this barbaric act, pushing cynicism to the point of sending a letter of apology to King Abdullah of Jordan. The Dir-Yacine massacre resulted in the dispossession of the Palestinians, known as the Nekba (hecatomb). Nearly 300,000 Palestinians have been killed since the creation of the State of Israel, which has pursued a systematic policy of massacres of Palestinians from 1948 to the present day.