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Living in Austin, Texas, a university town, I have over the years been bombarded in debates regarding this Sabra and Shatila massacre. However, when I mention the "War of the Camps," a horrendous and bloody battle of attrition between the Syrian-backed Shi'a Amal militia and Palestinian factions that took place in the same camps beginning in 1985, all I get are blank looks. The War of the Camps perhaps cost as many as 3,000 lives (the exact number will never been known because of the widespread destruction throughout the camps, the large displacement of the population, and blockades that barred even the Red Cross/Crescent from gaining access to the camps). The war was marked by atrocities committed by all sides, from claims of patients being dragged from hospital beds and executed to children dying of malnutrition and dehydration because fighters would not even allow the most basic relief supplies to pass through their lines. Yet, I never see anything about Syria being called to account for its role, or hear about any former Amal militia man making a movie to explore his particular guilt, for these Sabra and Shatila massacres.
