The evidence that the Irgun and Lehi perpetrated a massacre at Deir Yassin is overwhelming. It comes from numerous independent sources, Jewish and Arab, Haganah and dissidents and it is recorded on film. It does not depend on the testimony of any one person. There are a number of objections and excuses that have been raised by revisionist sources. None of them would be justification for a massacre, but most of them are untrue in any event. The attack was unprovoked. The motivation for it was supposedly booty and revenge for misdeeds of the village ten years previously. It was not part of any Haganah plan, and was allowed only reluctantly by the Haganah, after the revisionists refused several other options. There were only a few, if any, foreign Arab soldiers in the village. There were possibly a few cases in which Arab men had disguised themselves as women, but these do not explain the shooting of little children. Most casualties, as attested by several independent witnesses, were shot and did not die when houses were blown up. The number of casualties cannot be determined exactly. The most conservative estimate is 107 dead,62 but there were probably more.

The attempt by Revisionist sympathizers to implicate the Haganah in this act does not help the Zionist cause in any way imaginable, nor does it detract from the guilt of the Revisionists. Haganah commander Shaltiel was guilty to the extent that he allowed an attack on a peaceful village, and other individuals provided aid, both with and without the approval of Shaltiel. There is no evidence that Haganah command outside Jerusalem had known of the attack, nor did David Shaltiel imagine there would be a massacre. However, it is undeniable that the Haganah and the State of Israel attempted to minimize and cover up the massacre, apart from isolated verbal attacks on the Revisionists. The people who perpetrated the massacre were never brought to justice. No compensation was offered to victims. Meir Pail\ufffds report, and the accompanying photos, have not been released even though it is more than fifty years after the event.

The attempt by Revisionists and their sympathizers to deny that there was a massacre, or to obscure the facts with all kinds of side issues is shameful and absurd. It is the act of criminals who are still at large, and have not come to grips with their guilt.

Forty years ago, Buber concluded his reflections on Deir Yassin with these words: "The time will come when it will be possible to conceive of some act in Deir Yassin, an act which will symbolize our people's desire for justice and brotherhood with the Arab people."