Baruch Goldstein
| Baruch Goldstein | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 9 December 1956 Brooklyn, New York, United States |
| Died | 25 February 1994 (aged 37) Hebron, West Bank |
| Cause of death | Beaten to death |
| Resting place | Kiryat Arba, across from the Meir Kahane Memorial Park |
| Residence | Kiryat Arba |
| Other names | Benjamin Goldstein |
| Alma mater | Yeshiva University (1977) highest honors, Albert Einstein College of Medicine |
| Occupation | Physician (emergency doctor) |
| Years active | 11 |
| Known for | Slaughtering 29 Palestinians and injuring 125 |
| Religion | Judaism |
| Spouse | Miriam Goldstein |
Baruch Kopel/Kappel Goldstein (born Benjamin Goldstein; 9 December 1956 – 25 February 1994) was an American-Israeli physician, religious extremist, a follower of Kahanism, and a mass murderer, who perpetrated the 1994 Cave of the Patriarchs massacre in Hebron, killing 29 and wounding 125 Palestinian Muslim worshippers. The Israeli government condemned the massacre, and responded by arresting followers of Meir Kahane, criminalizing the Kach movement and affiliated movements as terrorist.
Life
Goldstein was born in Brooklyn, New York to an Orthodox Jewish family. He attended the Yeshivah of Flatbush religious day school and Yeshiva University. He received his medical training at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He belonged to the Jewish Defense League (JDL), a militant Jewish organization founded by Rabbi Meir Kahane.
After emigrating to Israel, he served as a physician in the Israeli Defense Force, first as a conscript, then in the reserve forces. Following the end of his active duty, Goldstein worked as a physician and lived in the Kiryat Arba settlement near Hebron, where he served as an emergency doctor.
In the autumn of 1993, in recognition of his medical work, Goldstein received two citations from the Israeli Army. In January 1994, Major Dr Yitzchak Ashkenazi, the local medical officer of the district of Judea and Samaria recommended Goldstein for promotion to the rank of Major in the Israeli Army".
Cave of the Patriarchs massacre
On 25 February 1994, that year's Purim day, Goldstein entered a room in the Cave of the Patriarchs serving as a mosque, wearing "his army uniform with the insignia of rank, creating the image of a reserve officer on active duty" (Shamgar report). He then opened fire, killing 29 Arab Muslims and wounding 150 (a Time Magazine article from March 7th, 1994 reported that Israeli officials counted 39 killed and Palestinians reported 52 killed). Mosque guard Mohammad Suleiman Abu Saleh said he thought that Goldstein was trying to kill as many people as possible and described how there were "bodies and blood everywhere." After being subdued with a fire extinguisher and disarmed, Goldstein was beaten to death. According to Ian Lustick, 'by mowing down Arabs he believed wanted to kill Jews, Goldstein was reenacting part of the Purim story.
The death certificate issued by the Israeli Ministry of the Interior lists the cause of his death as "murder." Although the Israeli authorities knew (via an Arab source who was present that morning) the names of those who killed Goldstein, they were never brought to trial although his wife requested that they be charged with homicide.
Palestinian rioting immediately followed the shooting, leading in the following week to the deaths of 25 Palestinians and five Israelis.[11] Following the massacre, Israel imposed a two-week curfew on the 120,000 Palestinian residents of the city, while the 400 Jewish settlers remained free to move around. The Israeli government condemned the massacre. Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin telephoned Mr Arafat, describing the attack as a "loathsome, criminal act of murder"
Death
He was beaten to death by survivors of the massacre. Goldstein's gravesite became a pilgrimage site for Jewish extremists. The following words are inscribed on the tomb:
- "He gave his life for the people of Israel, its Torah and land."
In 1999, after the passing of Israeli legislation outlawing monuments to terrorists, the Israeli Army dismantled the shrine that had been built to Goldstein at the site of his interment. The tombstone and its epitaph, calling Goldstein a martyr with clean hands and a pure heart, was left untouched. After the flagstones around it were pried away under the eye of a military chaplain, the ground was covered with gravel.
Treatment of non-Jews
Contradictory evidence exists as to whether he refused to treat non-Jews in his service as a civilian physician or while serving in the Israeli Army. Israeli press-reports state that he refused to treat non-Jews, even those serving in the IDF. When Goldstein was threatened with court-martial he declared:
- "I am not willing to treat any non-Jew. I recognize as legitimate only two religious authorities: Maimonides and Kahane."
The Shamgar Commission, which later investigated Goldstein's role in the Cave of the Patriachs massacre, noted that Goldstein had treated an Arab militant in October 1990. Also, Moshe Givati, the former Brigade Commander in Hebron," Colonel Dr. Arie Eldad, Medical Officer of the Central Command," Major Nachman Ash, Medical Officer of the Judea and Samaria Division,"[17] and Moti Unger, the Night Security Officer of the Kiryat Arba Local Council" all testified that Goldstein had treated Jew and Arab alike. Evidence was also given by Superintendent Uri Weisskop, who was acting Commander of the Hebron Police Station, that he had not come across any case of Goldstein refusing to give medical aid to a wounded Arab."
