15 years later

October 20, 2010 - 9:49 AM by · 2 Comments
Filed under: A New Reality, coexistence, Crime, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, News, Politics 

President Shimon Peres lighting 'Ner Yitzhak' on Tuesday night. (Mark Neyman/GPO)

Nothing seems to be more polarizing in this country than the memorial day for prime minister Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination, which is taking place now on its Hebrew date (Rabin was murdered on November, 4 1995.)

As Gil Hoffman point out in The Jerusalem Post , Rabin’s legacy has become whatever the politician who is speaking explains it as – an advocate for peace and a Palestinian state, or a cautious statesman who would not have sold Israel short and retreated to 1967 borders.

As each year goes by, there’s less pomp and circumstance surrounding the memorial day, with fewer events taking place and not as many people showing up for them.

But according to Dani Inbar, a film maker whose documentary “Where Were You When Rabin Was Killed” aired last night on Channel 2, there’s still plenty of raw emotion surrounding the assassination.

When he took on the project, Inbar told me that the Reshet broadcasting company published a public announcement asking people for interesting stories about what they went through the night of the assassination and how it affected their lives.

“I was a little skeptical because, 15 years later, I thought, ‘Will people remember? Will they care? Will they cooperate?’” said Inbar in a phone call. “It was amazing – we got thousands of people calling us, leaving messages, crying on the phone. And that turned out to be the heart and bones of the movie.”

The pessimistic message that emerges from the film is that, according to Inbar, the mood has gotten worse during the ensuing 15 years since Rabin’s murder.

“I said I didn’t want to use cliches [in the film], but the problem is that the biggest cliché is also the saddest truth of what is going on today – 15 years later, the situation is worse. That’s what people talk about in the second half of the film – the loss of hope, the feeling of no light is at the end of the tunnel.

“I think the clear and sad outcome which many people in the movie convey is that [Rabin assassin] Yigal Amir won. Simple as that. And you can see it in black and white. The peace process was killed, and Yigal Amir is sitting in jail now smiling. That’s the saddest thing of all.”

Inbar may be looking through a narrow lens in his assessment, but for the rest of us, it’s worthwhile to reflect on his conclusions as we mark 15 years since the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin.

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Shalom Haver

November 15, 2009 - 12:51 PM by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, General, Life, Politics 

Bill Clinton speaking at the Saban Forum (Photo: AP)

Bill Clinton speaking at the Saban Forum (Photo: AP)

Driving down Jerusalem’s King David Street last night on my way to band practice, I passed an array of police vehicles and official-looking swanky cars ensconced in front of the David Citadel Hotel. Now, which foreign leaders are here now, I thought?

Then I remembered that the Sixth annual Saban Forum was taking place from Saturday to Monday in Jerusalem and Ramallah, and among the guests were former US president Bill Clinton and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

During the two-day forum, dialogue between senior officials from both countries on US-Israel relations and Middle East strategic issues such as the Iranian threat, Syria and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, are being held. On Sunday, the delegates to the conference were travelling to Ramallah to meet with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayad.

Founded in 2004, the Saban Center for Middle East Policy has been working to promote independent policy dialogue between Israel and the US. Founder Haim Saban called the timing of the event “a critical moment in US-Israel relations.”

And even though neither Bubba nor Ahhnold were out strolling on the Mamilla mall, their presence during their visit is being felt.

Clinton, speaking to the conference on Saturday, urged Israel and the Palestinians to end our conflict, saying we cannot escape our common future.

“We are either going to hurt each other or we are going to help each other. Divorce is not an option,” AP reported Clinton saying.

“In the last 14 years, not a single week has gone by that I did not think of Yitzhak Rabin and miss him terribly,” he said. “Nor has a single week gone by in which I have not reaffirmed my conviction that had he not lost his life on that terrible November night, within three years we would have had a comprehensive agreement for peace in the Middle East.”

Clinton has remained hugely popular in Israel, where his “Shalom haver,” eulogy at Rabin’s funeral forever struck a chord in Israelis’ hearts. Despite some who believe Clinton’s hastiness and recklessness at achieving an Israeli-Palestinian accord led to the Second Intifada, Clinton’s still a star here. Welcome friends, and block the traffic as much as you want.

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Picture of the week: The long goodbye to Rabin

November 11, 2009 - 10:33 AM by · 1 Comment
Filed under: History and Culture, Life, Picture of the Week 

pic of week rabin crop

There can’t be many people on the left or the right in Israel who don’t still wonder what would have happened if former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin hadn’t died the night he was shot by religious fanatic Yigal Amir.

Would we have peace now? Would the second intifada have been avoided? Or would everything have unfolded in much the same way? We’ll obviously never know.

What amazes me most is that it was 14 years ago, but the memories are still painful for so much of Israeli society. It’s an open-wound that as David so rightfully pointed out in his post, Have any lessons been learned , hasn’t yet been resolved.

I was at the rally the night Rabin was assassinated. We didn’t know about the shooting until after we left, when we visited friends on our way home and found them glued to the television. Even then it was clear, history had just taken a completely different route.

Israel’s president Shimon Peres addressing the crowd on Saturday at the 14th anniversary of the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin in Tel Aviv. Photo by Liron Almog/Flash90.

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Have any lessons been learned from Rabin’s assassination?

October 28, 2009 - 9:11 PM by · 3 Comments
Filed under: A New Reality, coexistence, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Israeliness, Life, Politics 

Yitzhak Rabin singing "Song of Peace" shortly before he was shot and killed.
Thursday marks the 14th anniversary of the death of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin – certainly one of the cataclysmic events of Israel’s short history.

The divisions among the country’s citizens which led to Rabin’s assassination are still very apparent, with venom from both the Right and Left toward each other spouting freely without any attempt to mask the hatred. The Right blames Rabin and his followers on the Left for the failed Oslo process and the Left blames the Right for the environment that enabled an Israeli to take the life of a prime minister.

While most of the country mourns Rabin’s death and marks each anniversary with sadness, there’s a not so small minority who don’t take part in the collective grief and go about their business like any other day. It’s not a holiday that brings the country together.

Still, there are attempts at unity. President Shimon Peres opened the 24 hours of commemoration saying that the former prime minister’s vision of peace will not be abandoned. The state ceremony, held at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, was attended by Rabin family members, ministers, members of Knesset, and students from schools throughout Israel.

“Israel’s young generation has kept in their hearts the knowledge that such a despicable murder mustn’t ever happen again,” said Peres. “When the criminal took Yitzhak’s life, he intended to extinguish all hope for peace as well, but his plot will not succeed.”

Peres added that while peace has many enemies outside of Israel, there are also many skeptics within Israel’s own borders. He added that “Rabin’s assassination delayed the entire process and hampered the diplomatic course, but the understanding between us and our neighbors has grown, and its urgency has not changed.”

Memorial ceremonies will continue Thursday throughout the country, and the state ceremony is scheduled to take place in Mount Herzl cemetery at noon.

I remember leaving my newspaper that night after putting out the Rabin assassination edition thinking that Israel was in mortal danger from within, and wondering if we would survive. 14 years, we have perservered, but still have many lessons left to learn and internalize about what kind of country we want to build here.

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13 years and counting

November 3, 2008 - 8:51 AM by · 2 Comments
Filed under: General, History and Culture, Life, Politics 

It’s hard to imagine it was 13 years ago that Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated at a peace rally in Tel Aviv.
No-one can forget where they were or what they were doing when the news came.

I was actually at the rally itself, standing on a building looking out over what is now Rabin Square. We left before the end, bouyed by the incredible mood of hope and optimism at the demonstration. There were so many people there – 300,000 out of a population which was then only five million or so – we thought that this time peace really had a chance.

We drove to a friend’s house just a short distance away and as we walked in the door, they told us he’d been shot.
Minutes later, as we watched the TV, we heard in disbelief that he was dead.

Here, for the 13th anniversary, is a video celebrating Rabin’s life.

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