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I knew him as Benjy. As a youngster, I knew him in summer camp as a
lifeguard and swim instructor. In fact, he was my swim instructor, and over
the years, I spent a lot of time with Benjy. In recalling my memories of
Benjy Goldstein, he was a very tall and powerful guy (approximately 6 feet
four inches), but extremely mild mannered and soft spoken. He was
fun-loving but serious, and was entrusted by the administration of the camp
with the lives of hundreds of children as the head of the camp waterfront.
I recall watching Benjy swim halfway across a lake at lightening speed to
rescue a camper who was in trouble in a sailboat, and watched his serious
dedication as he taught water safety and life saving courses (I was among
his students). In all the years that I knew him, there was never as much of
a hint of a question about his stability or sense of responsibility.
Benjy and I parted ways in 1978. I went off to college, and he went to the
Albert Einstein School of Medicine. The next I heard of Benjy was more than
a decade and a half later, he was called Baruch, and his picture was on the
front page of a newspaper. The rest is history. However, those of us who
knew him back then were in utter shock - how could such a thing be? After
making inquiries to those who were acquainted with Benjy in his later years
- as Baruch - I was not surprised to hear people describe Baruch the same
way that I described Benjy, just in a different context, and in a different
place. As Dr. Baruch Goldstein, his neighbors in Hevron described him as
extremely mild mannered and soft spoken, responsible and selfless. As their
doctor, the people in Hevron entrusted Baruch with the lives of their
children. Everyone in Hevron has stories about the dedication of Dr.
Goldstein, upon whose door they could knock at any hour, or call his phone
at any time of night. They say that the soft spoken, mild mannered Dr.
Baruch Goldstein was always available to them - and I must add, to Jew and
Arab alike. One resident recalled how Dr. Goldstein once had to accompany
their seriously ill infant child to the hospital in an ambulance, and at
some point the ambulance stopped short and both Dr. Goldstein and the baby
went flying. Dr. Goldstein, managed not to lose hold of the baby, and while
cradling and protecting the child in his arms, made sure to absorb the
entire blow with his back, sustaining an injury which gave him back
problems until the day of his death. Once again, in all years that Dr.
Baruch Goldstein's neighbors knew him in Hevron, there was never as much as
a hint of a question about his stability or sense of responsibility.
So how could such a thing happen? What suddenly happened to Dr. Baruch
Goldstein that turned him from this mild mannered, loving and righteous
person into a cold blooded killer? After years of agonizing over this
question, I finally came to the realization that we're simply asking the
wrong question. After 10 years of watching the political tactics of the
extreme leftist Oslo gang, we have to ask ourselves not what went wrong
with Dr. Baruch Goldstein, but whether the good Dr. Goldstein was framed.
Before I even finished writing the previous sentence, I could already hear
in my mind the chorus of people wildly jumping up, screaming that the
notion that Baruch Goldstein is innocent is preposterous. Is it really so
preposterous? We know all too much about the foul tactics of the left, who
have considered no means to their political ends as off limits. We have a
laundry list of facts a mile long - from the treacherous actions of
government agent provocateur Avishai Raviv, up until the recent odious
behavior of the leftist Minister of Defense Fuad at the Gilad farms.
I recently came across an article written by Barry Chamish, the noted
researcher on the Rabin assassination (another issue about which we have
chosen to bury our heads in the sand while facts of foul play are staring
us in the face). After reading the article, many things about the death of
Dr. Baruch Goldstein finally began to make some sense. Mr. Chamish brings
to light some compelling facts about the incident that were revealed by an
Israeli researcher, Avraham Yosef. I'll mention just a few:
One - there is overwhelming evidence that the shooting in the Ma'arat
Hamachpela was not committed by a loan gunman, but rather two or three. At
least 25 survivors of the event, and 12 witnesses at the Shamgar commission
testified to this fact, but the Shamgar commission managed to whitewash it,
in order to reach their desired conclusion that Goldstein was a loan
gunman. Not surprisingly, this commission was the same whitewash machine
that investigated the Rabin assassination, which also dispensed with
numerous critical facts in order to reach their desired conclusions.
Two - contrary to initial reports that Goldstein arrived in his civilian
Subaru, it is now clear that irrefutable evidence was presented at the
commission that Dr. Goldstein arrived in an army jeep, belonging to the
chief IDF officer in Hevron, Shmuel Edelstein. However, this too was
whitewashed.
Three - the Shabak had established a KGB-like division in Hevron called the
"Jewish Division," whose duty it was to track "radicals," but in fact, was
engaged in sting operations to entrap young people opposed to the Oslo
agreements. (Well known victims of this division were two innocent young
men - brothers by the name of Kahalani).
The evidence goes on and on, and in the scope of my article, I can't
possibly cover all of it. However, if one is truly interested in
considering the facts, I highly recommend reading Mr. Chamish's article on
Dr. Goldstein in its entirety, which can be found on his website archive.
In his article, Mr. Chamish reports about the recent findings of Avraham
Yosef. According to Mr. Yosef, the following very plausible scenario is
proposed regarding the circumstances revolving around the Ma'arat
Hamachpela massacre of which Dr. Goldstein is accused and presumed guilty.
Since Dr. Goldstein was on standby duty in the reserves, it is quite
conceivable that he got a call in the middle of the night to report for
duty, particularly in light of the fact that it is known that he had been
contacted regarding a warning about imminent Arab terrorist actions, and as
the doctor in town, was specifically instructed to be prepared for
casualties. It is possible that he got such a call, and quietly left his
house at a very early hour without disturbing his family. He was picked up
in an army jeep by his soon to be accomplices who drove him to the side
door of the Ma'arat Hamachpela mosque (through which the facts show that he
entered, rather than the front as presumed, but he did not have the key to
these doors). He entered with his two unintended accomplices (who did have
the key), who then threw two stun grenades (accounting for two initial
blasts that were heard and reported at the Shamgar commission) and they
then shot blank bullets at the crowd. They then quickly left the prayer
hall, locked the door behind them, leaving Dr. Goldstein alone with the
mob. In order to keep the crowd at bay, Dr. Goldstein, who according to
everyone who knew him was not capable of firing upon innocent human beings,
then fired at their feet to keep them at bay (which explains the shrapnel
wounds in the legs of most of the victims, which most likely came from Dr.
Goldstein's bullets ricocheting off the floor). Again the details are
beyond the scope of this article, but they are explained in detail by Mr.
Chamish, and I strongly suggest you read them.
Far fetched you say? I'll tell you what is far fetched. It is far fetched
that a mild mannered doctor with a sterling reputation would one day pick
himself up, and unexplainably turn himself into a mass murderer. What is
not so far fetched? That the Oslo gang in power would engineer a situation
in which they could use a stooge, whose type they disdain anyway, as a tool
to create a climate that would further their political end of the expulsion
of the Jewish Community from Hevron. This should not be so difficult to
believe, as massive evidence is available that the radical left has
employed many such tactics toward their political ends, and continues to do
so today. However, we are ever too frightened to stand up to these
"enlightened" people for fear of what they'll do, and they've unfortunately
shown time and again that they'll do just about anything. Anyone who has
tried to expose them has been labeled an inciter, or has found himself in
prison on some kind of trumped up charge. The truth however, screams out to
be heard.
Here's the choice: Do you believe in the reputation and character of Dr.
Baruch Goldstein, a brilliant and capable doctor and dedicated Jew, who
made his life among his brethren in Hevron, and devoted his career to the
welfare of his fellow human beings, Jew and Arab alike? Or do you believe
in the duplicitous claims of the leftist Oslo elite and the corrupt Shamgar
commission, who would have us believe that beneath the skin of this soft
spoken, highly educated, dedicated and compassionate human being was a
maniacal murderer waiting to emerge?
I think the choice is clear, and the time to rehabilitate the holy name and
memory of Dr. Baruch Goldstein is long overdue.
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