WEST BANK: Remembering the massacre of 49 Arab civilians 50 years ago, thousands of demonstrators waving black flags attended a rally in an Arab village in central Israel.

On October 29, 1956, Israeli border guards gunned down 49 villagers from Kfar Kassem, northeast of Tel Aviv, as they worked in their fields. The Arab-Israeli farmers were unaware that Israel had imposed a nationwide curfew during the run-up to the Suez campaign against Egypt.

Speaking to demonstrators, mayor of Kfar Kassem Sammi Issa criticized recent moves to bring Avigdor Lieberman into the government of Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister.

"Men such as him have no place in government or in parliament," Issa said.

During the Kfar Kassem massacre, the Israeli commander ordered his soldiers to open fire rather than take prisoners. Several soldiers received stiff prison terms but were subsequently released having served just a fraction of their sentences.

There are more than one million Israeli Arabs and they account for 20 per cent of the Israeli population.