Baruch Goldstein

Baruch Goldstein
Born
Benjamin Carl Goldstein

(1956-12-09)December 9, 1956
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
DiedFebruary 25, 1994(1994-02-25) (aged 37)
Cave of the Patriarchs, Hebron, Israeli-occupied West Bank
Cause of deathBeating
Alma mater
OccupationPhysician
Known forCave of the Patriarchs massacre
MotiveAnti-Palestinian racism, Zionist extremism
Details
DateFebruary 25, 1994
Location(s)West Bank
Killed29
Injured125
WeaponIMI Galil

Baruch Kopel Goldstein (Hebrew: ברוך קאפל גולדשטיין; born Benjamin Carl Goldstein;[2] December 9, 1956 – February 25, 1994) was an American-Israeli mass murderer, religious extremist, and physician who perpetrated the 1994 Cave of the Patriarchs massacre in Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, an incident of Jewish terrorism.[3][4][5] Goldstein was a supporter of Kach, a religious Zionist party that the United States, the European Union and other countries designate as a terrorist organization.[6]

Born in 1956 in Brooklyn, New York, to an Orthodox Jewish family, Goldstein received his education there, starting with Jewish scripture studies, and eventually studying medicine at Yeshiva University. In the United States, he was a member of the Jewish Defense League (JDL), a militant Jewish organization founded by his boyhood acquaintance Meir Kahane. In 1983, Goldstein immigrated to Israel, and served as a physician in the Israeli military, during which he refused to treat Arabs, including those serving as soldiers. Later, he worked as a physician, and lived in the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Goldstein was active in Kahane's Kach party, and was third on the party list for the Knesset during the 1984 elections.

On February 25, 1994, Goldstein dressed in an Israeli military uniform, entered a mosque in the Cave of the Patriarchs and opened fire on the 800 Palestinian Muslim worshippers praying there during the month of Ramadan, killing 29 and wounding 125 worshippers, until he was beaten to death by survivors.[7][8][9]

Goldstein's gravesite became a pilgrimage site for Jewish extremists.[10] The following words are inscribed on the tomb: "He gave his life for the people of Israel, its Torah and land."[9] 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.[11] After the flagstones around it were pried away under the eye of a military chaplain, the ground was covered with gravel.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Time was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Martin, Gus (2011), "Goldstein, Baruch (1957–1994)", The SAGE Encyclopedia of Terrorism (2 ed.), Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, Inc., p. 233, doi:10.4135/9781412980173, ISBN 9781412980166
  3. ^ Israel and the Politics of Jewish Identity: The Secular-Religious Impasse. By Asher Cohen, Bernard Susser. p.59
  4. ^ "CIA paper cites Jewish acts of terrorism" Archived August 29, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, JTA, August 26, 2010
  5. ^ Kutler, Hillel. "US report cites increase in terrorism deaths in Israel", Jerusalem Post, April 30, 1995
  6. ^ "COUNCIL COMMON POSITION 2009/67/CFSP". Official Journal of the European Union. European Union. January 26, 2009. p. L 23/41.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference BBC was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ The Middle East Journal. "Chronology", vol 48, no 3 (Summer 1994) p. 511 ff.
  9. ^ a b Waldman, Ayelet (June 12, 2014). "The Shame of Shuhada Street". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on November 16, 2017. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Party was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ GreenBerg, Joel. "Israel destroys shrine to mosque gunman" Archived August 14, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, December 30, 1999, The New York Times.