Islamists and the Tragedy of Holy Family Church - First Things

The Christians quickly overwhelmed them, and—enraged by the murder of Gemayel and fueled by long-standing hatred for their Muslim rivals—then began to open fire on civilians. For three days, the Christian Phalangists indiscriminately massacred Palestinian Muslims. By the time it was over, “groups of young men in their twenties and thirties had been

Their inspiration came in the form of Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh, the author of a book named Barukh Ha-Gever (Blessed Is the Man). The book justified the actions of Baruch Goldstein, who killed 29 Palestinians and injured 125 in Hebron in 1994. Barukh Ha-Gever was actually a play on words, for it could mean either “Blessed Is the Man” or “Baruch Is t

Israel in fighting his rivals in Hamas while accusing Israel of war crimes in international forums. Throughout, he could count on American and European leaders to keep meeting Palestinian demands without requiring any concession in return.