THE 1982 SABRA CHATILA MASSACRES IN BEIRUT

The Israeli invasion of Lebanon and the resulting massacres of Palestinians were tragic events that moved me to create paintings, design posters, participate in a Japanese NHK TV documentary about what happened, join an International Tribunal held in Tokyo to judge Israel's responsibility, and finally to co-edit a book , Beirut 1982, of photographs by my friend Japanese photojournalist Ryuichi Hirokawa, a witness to the invasion and massacres. Beirut 1982 is a moving historical document with disturbing photographs of the victims (see a sample photo below).

Download a pdf of a version of Beirut 1982.

Click to read Beirut 1982 online ( for flash-enabled computers - not the ipad).

Homage to Sabra & Shatila Camps 1982 - watercolor painting by Vladimir Tamari October 1982

The Arabic calligraphy says If God is on your side, nobody can defeat you. A list of Israeli massacres against Paletinians is written in the lower left corner.

A poster featuring one of my watercolors and Arabic lettering, published in 1985 by the PLO Office in Tokyo

One of the shocking photographs in the book Beirut 1982

taken by my friend Japanese photojournalist Ryuichi Hirokawa who was one of the first

journalists to enter the camps just after the massacres..