February 25, 1994: The Cave of the Patriarchs Massacre

February 25, 1994: Baruch Goldstein opens fire inside the Cave of the Patriarchs, in the Palestinian-controlled West Bank. He kills 29 Muslims, before worshippers beat him to death.

Born in 1956 to an Orthodox Jewish family in Brooklyn, Goldstein was a physician, who ignored the Hippocratic Oath with its vow of "I will abstain from all intentional wrong-doing and harm." (Often written as, "First, do no harm." He knew the Brooklyn-born rabbi Meir Kahane, who moved to Israel, founded a right-wing political party, became a terrorist, and was assassinated in 1990. His followers formed a splinter party, calling themselves Kahane Chai -- "Kahane Lives."

(After Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin signed the Oslo Accords, giving away the Gaza Strip and much of the West Bank, in 1993, they considered him a traitor, and wrote a rhyming slogan: "Kahane Chai, Rabin must die." They got their wish: Rabin was assassinated in 1995.)

Goldstein moved to Israel in 1983, and served as a physician in the Israeli military, during which he refused to treat Arabs, including those serving as soldiers. Later, he worked as a physician, and lived in the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba, near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Hebron is home to the Cave of the Patriarchs, also known as the Tomb of the Patriarchs, 19 miles south of Jerusalem. According to the Bible's Book of Genesis, the 1st 3 Patriarchs and their wives are buried there: Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and Jacob and Leah -- Jacob's other wife, Rachel, not being buried there.

Whether those people are actually buried there, nobody alive in the last 3,000 years knows for sure. Nevertheless, the site is holy to Jews. Since Christianity came from Judaism, the site is also holy to Christians. Since Muslims trace their ancestry back to the union between Abraham and Sarah's handmaiden Hagar, and their son Ishmael, the site is holy to them, as well.

But it has been a target several times. In 1968, a special arrangement was made to accommodate Jewish services on the Jewish New Year and Day of Atonement. This led to an attack on worshippers, with a hand-grenade being thrown on the stairway leading to the tomb on October 9, in which 47 Israelis were injured, 8 seriously. On November 4, a large explosion went off near the gate to the compound and 6 people, Jews and Arabs, were wounded.

On Yom Kippur eve, October 3, 1976, an Arab mob destroyed several Torah scrolls and prayer books at the tomb. In May 1980, an attack on Jewish worshippers returning from prayers at the tomb left 6 dead and 17 wounded.

On February 25, 1994, while Palestinians were praying inside, in the Ibrahimi Mosque ("Ibrahim" is the Arabic variant of "Abraham"), Dr. Goldstein, dressed in an Israeli Army uniform, opened fire with an assault rifle, and killed 29 people, including children as young as 12, and wounded 125 others. He was overpowered and beaten to death by survivors.

Four days later, on March 1, in retaliation, in New York, Lebanese-born immigrant Rashid Baz fired shots at a van of 15 Chabad-Lubavitch Orthodox Jewish students traveling on the Brooklyn Bridge. Four were wounded, including Ari Halberstam, 16, who died 4 days later from a shot to the head. Another student, also shot in the head, suffered permanent major speech impediments. Baz was convicted, and sentenced to 141 years to life.

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February 25, 1994 was a Friday. Baseball and football were out of season. There were 11 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Denver Nuggets, 102-94 at the McNichols Arena in Denver. Patrick Ewing scores 35 points in defeat.

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Orlando Magic, 114-102 at the Orlando Arena. Kenny Anderson scored 33 points in defeat for the Nets.

* The Miami Heat beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 115-84 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Washington Bullets, 116-94 at the USAir Arena (formerly the Capital Centre) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 111-100 at The Omni in Atlanta.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Golden State Warriors, 107-97 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Detroit Pistons, 110-90 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Phoenix Suns, 107-87 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Sacramento Kings, 121-111 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. Mitch Richmond scored 37 points in defeat for the Kings.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 126-110 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. Willie Anderson scored 33 for the Spurs.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Boston Celtics, 115-102 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.

And there were 4 games in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 2-0 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-1 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Winnipeg Jets, 7-6 at the Winnipeg Arena.

* And the Los Angeles Kings and the Edmonton Oilers played to a tie, 5-5 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.