22 young teenagers from Tzfas who were martyred al Kiddush Hashem in one of the worst massacres in Israeli history, exactly 50 years ago
Visitors to the mystical Old City of Tzfas often make their way down the mountain toward the city’s legendary ancient cemetery. As the sun hangs over Meron in the distance, petitioners visit the burial sites of the Boyaner Rebbe of Leipzig, the Ridvaz, the Bas Ayin, the Be’er Mayim Chaim, the mysterious Rav Leib Baal Yissurim, and the great kabbalists of 16th-century Tzfas — the Arizal, the Beis Yosef, Rav Shlomo Alkabetz, the Mabit, Rav Moshe Cordovero, Rav Moshe Alshich, and so many others.
Generally overlooked in those hallowed grounds are the graves of 22 young teenagers from Tzfas who were martyred al Kiddush Hashem in one of the worst massacres in Israeli history, exactly 50 years ago. That was the Maalot massacre of May 15, 1974.
On Sunday night, May 12, three Palestinian terrorists affiliated with the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) infiltrated Israel’s northern border fence from Lebanon. They slipped in undetected, and although Israeli border patrols discovered the break the next day and an alert was sounded to all security forces in the area, the terrorists were still at large for the next two days.
At about 11 p.m. Tuesday night, they ambushed a car driven by an Israeli Druze who was transporting Israeli-Arab Christian workers back to their village, opening fire on the vehicle, killing one woman and injuring several others. The injured driver managed to continue driving and reported the incident to the police and IDF, who searched the area to no avail. The terrorists continued on the road, entering Maalot later that night.
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