Goldstein Acted Alone, Palestinians Testify at Inquiry

Dr. Baruch Goldstein acted alone when he killed at least 29 Palestinians at a Hebron mosque, three Palestinian guards said on the last day of hearings of a commission of inquiry.

The guards gave their testimony Sunday before the Shamgar Commission investigating the Feb. 25 mosque killings.

The guards had initially refused to testify before an Israeli panel, and only did so after they had been subpoenaed to appear before the commission.

The three confirmed that Goldstein, a Kiryat Arba settler well known to them, had carried out the murders single-handedly.

Their testimony contradicted that of other Palestinians who told the commission that Goldstein had not acted alone.

A preliminary inquiry by the Israeli army reached the conclusion that Goldstein did not have an accomplice.

“He was alone. There was nobody else with him,” one of the guards, Ismail Hashlamon, told the commission.

He also told the panel that, to his knowledge, Goldstein had not taken part in any earlier actions on the part of the settlers that he described as being intended to provoke Palestinians at the Hebron mosque.

Hashlamon said he was surprised that Goldstein had committed the killings, saying he would never have expected it of him.

Goldstein’s widow, Miriam, appearing before the commission last weak, said her husband’s actions on the morning of Feb. 25 were still a source of confusion to her.

She had originally refused to testify, but agreed to appear on April 6 on the condition that the media not be informed of her presence in the court and that she speak before a closed session.

Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin also testified last week in a closed session of the commission, most of whose sessions were aired on Israeli television.

The record of her testimony, released last Friday, indicated that she had no idea of what pushed her husband to commit the mass killings.

“It’s still an enigma for me. That’s the truth. I’ve been over and over it, and I can’t arrive at an answer,” she told the court.

She indicated that her husband had often complained that the Israeli army was not doing enough to protect settlers in the territories from attacks by Palestinians.

“He always complained about the helplessness of the Israeli government, of the army, of the police – that they don’t do their jobs properly and that we (the settlers) are abandoned,” she told the commission.

She also testified that she had heard from others that her husband had been at the Tomb of the Patriarchs, a site holy to Jews and Muslims alike, on the evening before the killings.

There had been a confrontation between Jewish and Muslim worshipers that evening, she said, adding that he had left because of the unpleasantness.

Previous witnesses had denied that Goldstein had been present on that occasion.

The Shamgar Commission – which includes two Supreme Court justices, a professor, a former army chief of staff and a Palestinian judge – will now retire for several weeks to consider the testimony.

In the coming weeks, the commission may warn some of those who have testified that they may have incriminated themselves and should prepare for potential criminal prosecutions.