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Palestinians, Activists Protest Israeli Settlement in Hebron

Nowhere are Israeli settlement policies more evident and combustible than in the Palestinian city of Hebron, Daoud Kuttab writes.
An Israeli policeman fires a tear gas canister during clashes with Palestinian protesters at a demonstration against the closure of Shuhada street to Palestinians, in the West Bank city of Hebron February 24, 2012. Some 200 protesters, including foreign and Israeli activists, gathered on Friday marking the 18th anniversary of the closure of the street, which was closed by the Israeli army in 1994 following the Hebron mosque massacre by Baruch Goldstein, an Israeli settler, who went on a rampage inside Al Ib

As devout Palestinian believers were kneeling for their dawn prayer at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, an Israeli soldier entered and began shooting at the worshippers from behind. He emptied one magazine after another, mercilessly killing Palestinians. The shooter, later identified as an Israeli-American (from Brooklyn), settler Barouch Goldstein was finally killed by Palestinians using the only available weapon in the mosque, the fire extinguisher. By the time the mayhem was over, 29 Palestinians were declared killed and dozens of others were wounded.

This Hebron massacre took place on Feb. 22, 1994, just five months after the PLO and Israel recognized each other and signed the Oslo Accords. Goldstein was buried in the nearby Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba and his grave has become a shrine to some of right-wing Israelis and settlers. The Palestinians who succeeded in stopping him have never been identified.

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