The Hebron massacre

Baruch Goldstein, an American physician and Orthodox Jew, emigrated to Israel and joined the Israeli army as a medical officer.

In 1985, after an IDF soldier shot a Palestinian and the wounded man was brought to an army clinic where Goldstein was on duty. Goldstein refused to provide medical assistance and he issued a statement in which he said:

"I am not willing to treat any non-Jew."

Despite his refusal Goldstein was permitted to remain in the army and gained the rank of captain, in fact, at one time, he was scheduled for promotion to major.

On 25 February 1994, the day of the Jews' annual Purim festival, when they celebrate a massacre of 75,000 Persians 2,500 years ago, Captain Goldstein entered the Ibrahimi mosque in Hebron and opened fire on the worshippers inside.

Thus were 29 of those who were kneeling in prayer at the Tomb of the Patriarchs killed. The Israeli guards outside the mosque did not try to stop Goldstein entering the mosque, even though he was obviously Jewish and carrying an assault rifle.

Goldstein was in the process of reloading his rifle when it jammed. He was subsequently beaten to death by those who had managed to survive the initial assault.

There was a huge funeral procession for Goldstein, and the Israeli army provided a guard of honour at his grave. Jewish children were seen to be wearing buttons with the slogan, 'Dr. Goldstein cured Israel's ills,' inscribed upon them. To this day car stickers can be seen in Israel which display this legend.

In 1994, Rabbi Moshe Levinger a prominent leader of the Orthodox Israeli community was quoted thus, in the Israeli newspaper, Yediot Ahronot:

"I am sorry for the 29 Palestinians murdered by Goldstein in the same way that I would be sorry for the killing of 29 flies."

In a letter to Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein, dated 28 April 1994, Dov Lior, the Rabbi at the settlement of Kiryat Arba where Goldstein lived, said this:

"Since Goldstein did what he did in God's own name, he is to be regarded as a righteous man... A Jew who is killed because he is a Jew must certainly be called ... a holy martyr ... without investigating their previous conduct."

Here's another unrelated goodie from Rabbi Dov:

"Gentile sperm leads to cruel and barbaric offspring."

Rabbi Israel Ariel, who read a eulogy at Goldstein's funeral, said this on that day:

"The holy martyr, Baruch Goldstein, is from now on our intercessor in heaven. Goldstein did not act as an individual, he heard the cry of the land of Israel, which is being stolen from us day after day by the Muslims. He acted to relieve that cry of the land."

In the 28 February 1994, edition of The New York Times, Rabbi Yaacov Perin, who conducted the services at Goldstein's funeral, was quoted thus:

"One million Arabs are not worth a Jewish fingernail."

Later in the same year, the Florida chapter of the Jewish Defence League of America released this statement:

"We feel that Goldstein took a preventative measure against yet another Arab attack. We understand his motivation, his grief and his actions. We are not ashamed to say that Goldstein was a charter member of the Jewish Defense League. We quote without comment the rabbi who conducted the services at Goldstein's funeral: 'A million Arabs are not worth one Jewish fingernail'."

In 1994, Rabbi Yitzhak Ginsburg produced an extended essay on the Goldberg massacre. In this, he stated that:

"The crowning glory of his act is the sanctification of God...

God looks more fondly on Jewish blood and therefore it is redder and its life has priority."

In March 1999, Samuel Hacohen, an Israeli teacher, was quoted thus in The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs:

"Baruch Goldstein was the greatest Jew, not in one way, but in every way...

There are no innocent Arabs here, and thank God that one Jewish hero reminded us that it had become almost legal to kill Jews in the street. He is the only one who could do it, the only one who was 100 percent perfect. He was no crazy... Killing isn't nice, but sometimes it is very necessary."

In the 28 May 1994, edition of Time Magazine, Meir Tayar, the Deputy Commander of the Israeli Defence Force, was quoted thus:

"Standing orders forbid security forces from firing on Jewish settlers under any circumstances. If a settler opens fire, instructions are to take cover and wait for the clip to finish, then stop him in some other way, not by shooting'."

After the murder in 1995, of Israeli prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin, by Israeli settle Ygal Amir, Professor Meir Lockshin felt obliged to write the following in the 18 January 1996, edition of The Canadian Jewish News:

"One just can't ignore the fact that Amir and the other famous Orthodox murderer of the nineties, Baruch Goldstein, attended the finest modern Orthodox schools and excelled in their studies. They were not sociopaths. They were well-integrated and respected members of their communities; it was impossible to tell them apart from their colleagues and friends.

As Rabbi Lichenstein said on the day before the assassination, the nationalist Orthodox community in Israel would have gladly shown off Yigal Amir as one of the great successes of its educational system. It is absurd then for the Orthodox community to say that he and Goldstein are not representative."

Professor Lockshin is, himself, an Orthodox Jew.

10 years after Goldstein's death, the British Rabbi, Dr. Chaim Simons, wrote a 150 page tract seeking to excuse Goldstein's behaviour. Citing his widow, Miriam, who said that his face was so mutilated that even hiss brother had difficulty in identifying him, Rabbi Simons asked:

"Why was the body in such a state? Did the Arabs have to do all this as an act of self-defense?... We can see that Baruch Goldstein was beaten to death after his rifle had been taken from him... This was done by Moslem worshippers. Furthermore, the official death certificate issued by the Israeli Ministry of the Interior, states the cause of death as murder...

To date, no Arab has been charged with Baruch Goldstein's murder... the Arabs who murdered Baruch Goldstein have never been brought to trial!"

These orthodox, Jewish Rabbis, hey? Aren't they great?

Baruch Goldstein knew he could murder with impunity because of the brute, genocidal nature of the most powerful of his fellows. When his gun jammed and they got to him he will have known terror. Such men die screaming, begging for mercy. Thank the Lord there was none.

Goldstein was a hero to some, a villain to others and he ought to be a tw*t to the rest.

But as long as most are too lazy, too disinterested or too frightened to investigate such things for themselves, he won't be.