Baruch Goldstein

Dr. Baruch Kappel Goldstein (December 9 or December 12, 1956 – February 25, 1994) was a Jewish American-Israeli physician and militant who killed 29 Muslims and injured approximately 100 in a 1994 shooting attack in the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, Israel.

Supporters of Goldstein

Supporters sometimes hold celebrations at Goldstein's gravesite in Kiryat Arba. His tombstone reads:

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:Here lies the saint, Dr. Baruch Kappel Goldstein, blessed be the memory of the righteous and holy man, may the Lord avenge his blood, who devoted his soul to the Jews, Jewish religion and Jewish land. His hands are innocent and his heart is pure. He was killed as a martyr of God on the 14th of Adar, Purim, in the year 5754 (1994).

Related Topics:
Purim - 1994

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There is also a significant amount of controversy surrounding his motives. Of the supporters claims are the following:

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• A week prior to that Purim morning, there were several incidents of Arab mobs at the Cave of the Patriarchs shouting "Itbach al-Yahood." which means "Slaughter the Jews."
• The metal detector at the East Gate where most of the Arabs entered that Friday Purim morning was damaged the night before.
• An unusually large number of Arabs came to the Cave of the Patriarchs that Friday around 500 men and 300 women, and only a handful of the men were searched, an none of the women were.
• Yitzchak Matoof, local resident, testified that "Arab storekeepers told me not to come to the Machpelah on Purim as it will not be good for Jews there." +
• The leading Israeli newspaper, Yediot Aharonot, published a news report before Purim stating that Hamas forces in Hebron had been alerting all Arabs in Hebron, through a group known as Ez a-Adin Alqass, to stock up with food and provisions since a great attack on Jews would take place and that it could be expected that, afterwards, the Israeli government would impose a curfew on the Arab population. This would also occur around the end of Ramadan.

However these "controvesies" should not detract from the fact he is a murderer, infact most Israelis are repulsed by the glorification of this Jewish militant. In 1998, a bill passed in the Israeli Knesset forbade the erection of monuments to whom it considered as terrorists. In 2000, a small shrine built around Goldstein's tomb was demolished. At the time, it was also declared that a discussion of the inscription on his tombstone was pending, but no revisions have yet been made (as of 2005).

Related Topics:
1998 - Knesset - 2000 - 2005

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