Beacons of hope for the settler movement: The ultra-right Israeli politician Itamar Ben-Gvir
Image: Reuters
After their electoral success, the ultra-right will probably be involved in the new government in Israel. Their figurehead is Itamar Ben-Gvir. He distinguished himself as a provocateur. Now he is more moderate. A deception?
SHeavy drops fall on Baruch Goldstein’s grave. The first real autumn rains have descended on Palestine, dark clouds hang in the hills of Hebron. The grave of the mass murderer who shot dead 29 men praying in the Mosque of Abraham in 1994 before being overpowered and beaten to death is in a park in Kiryat Arba. The army had refused burial in the Jewish cemetery, so Goldstein was buried in the settlement on the eastern edge of Hebron.
From the hill you have a good view of the Palestinian city, whose residents are suffering greatly under the settlers. Over time, sympathizers expanded the grave into a kind of shrine. The army had the additions removed in 1999, but the tombstone is still there. The inscription states that Doctor Goldstein “gave his life for the people of Israel, their Torah and their country” and that he has “clean hands and a pure heart”. A few small stones lie on the damp grave slab, as is customary in Judaism.
