Cave of the Patriarchs massacre
The Cave of the Patriarchs massacre was an attack on Muslim Palestinians praying at the mosque in the Cave of the Patriarchs in the West Bank city of Hebron on February 25, 1994. Baruch Goldstein, an Israeli-American settler, off-duty IDF army reservist captain[1] and member of the extremist Kach movement, opened fire on the worshippers. According to Israeli reports 39 Palestinians were killed and 125 wounded, while Palestinian sources stated that up to 52 people were shot to death.[2] Goldstein was also killed in the attack, which took place during the overlapping religious holidays of Purim and Ramadan. Israel harshly condemned the attack and promised to pay compensation to the families of the victims.[3][4]
Massacre
The Cave of the Patriarchs is divided into two sections, one for Jewish worshippers and the other for Muslim worshippers. The section for the Jewish worshippers includes the Abraham Hall, which is also used for brit milah ceremonies, and the Jacob Hall. A Yeshivah has also been set up. Numerous Jewish religious services take place every day in this section of the Cave. The section for Muslim worshippers includes the much larger Isaac Hall. On ten days in the year, the entire cave is reserved for the exclusive use of Jewish worshippers and on ten other days in for the exclusive use of Muslim worshippers.
At 05:00 a.m. on 25 February, 800 Palestinian Muslims passed through the east gate of the cave to participate in Fajr, the first of the five daily Islamic prayers.[5] The cave was under Israeli Army guard, but of the nine soldiers supposed to have been on duty, four were late turning up, and only one officer was there.[1]
Shortly afterwards, Baruch Goldstein, a Jewish resident of the Kiryat Arba settlement and member of the extremist Kahanist movement, entered the Isaac Hall of the cave. He was dressed in his army uniform and carried an IMI Galil assault rifle and four magazines of ammunition, which held 35 rounds each. He was not stopped by the guards, who assumed that he was an officer entering the tomb to pray in an adjacent chamber reserved for Jews.[2]
Standing in front of the only exit from the cave and positioned to the rear of the Muslim worshippers, he opened fire with the weapon, killing 29 people and injuring another 125. He was eventually overwhelmed by survivors, who beat him to death. State Attorney Dorit Benish refused to prosecute those who killed Goldstein after disarming him.[6]
Reports after the massacre were inevitably highly confused. In particular, there was uncertainty about whether Goldstein had acted alone; it was reported that eyewitnesses had seen "another man, also dressed as a soldier, handing him ammunition."[7] There were also reports that he had thrown grenades into the worshippers.[3] The Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat claimed that the attack was the work of up to 12 men, including Israeli troops. However, a preliminary Israeli Army investigation, and the more thorough commission later set up, found that there had been no use of grenades and that Goldstein had acted alone without the assistance or connivance of the Israeli guards posted at the cave.[4]
Victims
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Response
Israeli government
Goldstein's actions were immediately condemned by the Israeli government, the mainstream Israeli parties and the Israeli populace in general.[8] Spokespeople for all the organized denominations of Judaism denounced his act as immoral and as terrorism. The Kach movement, to which he belonged, was outlawed as a terrorist organization. The cabinet agreed to take away the weapons of some right-wing extremists and put them in administrative detention.
In an address to the Knesset, Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin denounced the US-born Goldstein as a "foreign implant" and an "errant weed". He continued, "We say to this horrible man and those like him: you are a shame on Zionism and an embarrassment to Judaism." Binyamin Netanyahu, head of the right of centre Likud party declared, "This was a despicable crime. I express my unequivocal condemnation."[9]
Shamgar Commission
The Israeli government appointed an official and independent commission of inquiry headed by then president of the Supreme Court, Judge Meir Shamgar. It found that:
- Goldstein acted alone in planning the massacre, telling no one of his scheme.[10]
- Coordination between the IDF, the police, and the Civil Administration was problematic.
- The political leadership and security forces could not have been expected to predict the massacre.
- Testimony from survivors referring to IDF assistance and grenade explosions in the massacre was found to be contradictory and inconsistent; investigators did not find any grenade fragments.[5]
Jewish diaspora
In Britain the Chief Rabbi Dr. Jonathan Sacks stated "Such an act is an obscenity and a travesty of Jewish values. That it should have been perpetrated against worshippers in a house of prayer at a holy time makes it a blasphemy as well." He continued, "Violence is evil. Violence committed in the name of God is doubly evil. Violence against those engaged in worshipping God is unspeakably evil."[11]
An editorial in The Jewish Chronicle written by Chaim Bermant denounced the Kach organisation to which Goldstein belonged as "Neo-Nazis" and a U.S. creation, funded by American money and a product of American gun culture.[12] The same edition also reported that some liberal synagogues in the UK had begun fund-raising for Goldstein's victims.[13]
Protests and violence
Angry mobs began rioting in the aftermath of the massacre, which led to the deaths of 26 more Palestinians and 9 Israelis. In Amman, Jordan, 77-year-old British tourist Howard Long was stabbed by Arab protesters. The attacker, Khalid Husni Al-Korashi, was subsequently arrested and the Jordanian Interior Ministry called for its citizens to show calm and restraint in their response.[14]
Other reactions
Goldstein experienced an emotional crisis in December, when two of his friends were ambushed by Arab attackers near Kiryat Arba. As head of the local emergency medical team, Goldstein was called, and Mordechai Lapid and his 19-year-old son died in his arms.[15] Goldstein is not known to have given any reasons for his actions. However, immediately after the attack, Mike Guzofsky, spokesman for Kahane Chai in New York and a close friend of Goldstein said, "He wanted to stop the peace process dead. He couldn't have picked a better day – Purim, when Jews fight back."[16] At Goldstein's eulogy Rabbi Dov Lior of Kiryat Arba stated: "Goldstein could not continue to bear all the cases he was seeing as a doctor; he might have gone insane from all he went through."[17] According to Dr. Manfred R. Lehmann, Goldstein, in his capacity of head medical officer in Kiryat Arba, was aware of inside information warning of an upcoming Arab pogrom and acted in order to prevent this.[18] He also claims that the good name of Goldstein at that time was testified to by his promotion to Major and the lengthy letter of promotion saying "If there is an officer in the District of Judea and Samaria worthy of promotion in rank it is without doubt Dr. (Captain) Baruch Goldstein."[18]
A poll of 500 Israeli adults for the International Centre for Peace in the Middle East found that 78.8 percent of people condemned the Hebron massacre while 3.6 percent praised Goldstein.[19] In Hebron, Jewish settlers danced in the streets and praised Goldstein's martyrdom.[2]
As a reaction to the trauma induced in children of the city the Palestinian Child Arts Center (PCAC), a non-governmental, non-profit organization was founded. The activities of the centre primarily involve the intellectual development of Palestinian children, and to reinforce a positive role for the child within Palestinian society and culture.[20]
See also
References
- ^ GENERAL YATOM PRESS CONFERENCE - 27-Feb-94
- ^ a b "When Fury Rules". Time Magazine. March 7, 1994. p. 2.
- ^ Alan Cowell (March 2, 1994). "WEST BANK MASSACRE; In 'Tragic Error,' Soldiers Kill a Settler". New York Times.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Youssef M. Ibrahim (March 6, 1994). "The World; Palestinians See a People's Hatred in a Killer's Deed". New York Times.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Report of Shamgar Commission p. 15
- ^ A. Pasko, "Baruch Goldstein and Hebron Ten Years Later"Retrieved 2008-07-18
- ^ "Hebron Massacre: Hell comes to a holy place", The Independent (London), 27 February 1994
- ^ http://palestinefacts.org/pf_1991to_now_israel_hebron_shooting_1994.php
- ^ quotes from The Jewish Chronicle (London) 4 March 1994, pages 1 and 2
- ^ Commission of Inquiry Into the Massacre at the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron - Excerpts from the Report
- ^ The Jewish Chronicle (London) 4 March 1994, page 1 and then expanded on page 23
- ^ Chaim Bermant Has one settler settled the settlers future? in The Jewish Chronicle (London), 4 March 1994
- ^ The Jewish Chronicle (London), 4 March 1994
- ^ Barsky, Yehudit. The Brooklyn Bridge Shooting: An Independent Report and Assessment. The American Jewish Committee. Nov. 2000. Accessed June 12, 2006.
- ^ ^ The Making of a Murderous Fanatic, 'Time, March 7, 1994.
- ^ Geoffrey Paul (New York) and Jenni Frazer (Jerusalem) From Brooklyn to Kirya Arba in The Jewish Chronicle (London), 4 March 1994.
- ^ Ilana Baum and Tzvi Singer in Yediot Aharonot, 28 February 1994.
- ^ a b One Year Later - Purim Hebron 1994 Remembered
- ^ The Jewish Chronicle (London) 4 March 1994, page 2
- ^ Irving Epstein (2008) The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Children's Issues Worldwide Greenwood Press, ISBN 0313338787 p 197
External references
- *The Background and Consequences of the Massacre in Hebron, by Israel Shahak in Middle East Policy, 1994