My Story 36

The settlers' lives changed drastically after Oslo. We were demonized by the government as the reason for all of Israel's woes. We were the obstacles to peace and prosperity. Our dead were mocked, and we were declared acceptable targets in the Accords. Symbolic, perhaps, of the new situation were the events the night after the famous handshake between Rabin, Arafat, and Clinton at the White House. I was coming home from teaching a class in Jerusalem. Coming to Ramallah, the main street was brightly lit. The world media were filming an amazing sight. The Arabs were in the street, cheering, handing olive branches to Israelis driving through. As soon as we passed the lights, rocks and building blocks rained down on the cars. There is no way that the Arabs, the media, and the Israeli police did not know what was happening twenty feet away. A lie was being perpetrated, and we were the scapegoats. Even in our communities, we were not safe. People were offered 200 shekels (about $50) to tell the police what everyone was saying. Although some of the takers acted from greed, most were following the Kookian concept that everything the State does is sacrosanct, and a stage of the redemption. In February, 1994, an event occurred that shook Israel, and the world. Dr. Baruch Goldstein, the physician of Kiryat Arba (the Jewish community built next to Hebron, Judaism's second holiest city), got up early on Purim morning, went to the Cave of the Patriarchs, and shot up Muslims during prayer, killing twenty-nine, until he himself was killed by ax-wielding Arabs. His actions were condemned across the political spectrum. Many were puzzled. Dr. Goldstein was an American-born and trained physician, who had won many awards for heroic actions in saving both Jewish and Arab lives. I have a picture of him and me together. Interestingly, he was a childhood friend of Rabbi Kiwak. Israel wanted the world to know that it was committed to peace, and found these actions reprehensible in the extreme. It was thought that he would be buried in the ancient Jewish cemetery of Hebron. However, as that was in the middle of an Arab neighborhood, it was realized that his grave would be desecrated. Instead, he was buried within the confines of Kiryat Arba, with a beautiful plaza built around it. This further gave credence to the idea that the settlers were, in fact, terrorists themselves. A posthumous "trial" was held (and televised), with the Chief Justice being an Arab. All witnesses were obligated to refer to him not as Dr. Goldstein, but rather "the abominable murderer, Baruch Goldstein", including his close family and friends. The court "decreed" (I don't know by what authority) that anyone expressing approval of his actions would be imprisoned for three years. Also, anyone in possession of a book that had been put out about the incident giving an "alternative version" would get two years, or three years if he told the alternative story to anyone else. Needless to say, I hastened to get a copy (I will not be told what I may or may not have in my library!). I was shocked to read that the day prior to the attack, the army representatives had come to the Doctor, instructing him to be prepared with supplies to treat many wounded. He asked why. They told him that the next day, there would be a major attack of the Arabs against the Jews in Hebron. He asked "aren't you going to do anything?!?!" They remained silent. He understood what was happening. After the planned pogrom, the government would say that they are unable to protect the remaining Jews, and they must be forcibly evicted from Hebron and Kiryat Arba. It was part of Rabin's plan. Dr. Goldstein decided to stage a preemptive attack in order to head off both the massacre of Jews, and the expulsion of the Jewish community. To lend credence to this version (which to this day, has never been heard by most Israelis) large numbers of axes were found under the prayer rugs at the Cave of the Patriarchs, and announcements in Arabic had been pasted on walls warning to store up a lot of food, as there would likely be a long curfew following a major "operation". The book provided ample documentation for these claims.  When his home was combed for evidence, they found on his desk, the Likkutei Moharan of Rabbi Nachman, open to chapter 260, which says that sometimes a great man must give up his reputation, or even his life, in order to save an entire community. The government later came in and destroyed the plaza around his grave. Dead Jews were now a legitimate political target for Yitzchak Rabin.