Yitzhak Rabin murder
- Shlomi Zan
- Nov 8, 2019
- 2 min read
A speech that I was given to my students in Gann Academy, Waltham, Massachusetts,
11/8/2019
Hello everyone, my name is Shlomi I’m an Hebrew teachers, and I'd like to share what Rabin's murder means to me.
24 years have passed since the Saturday evening when I heard the announcement outside Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv:
"ממשלת ישראל מודיעה בתדהמה על מותו של ראש הממשלה ושר הבטחון יצחק רבין, אשר נרצח הלילה בתל אביב."
“The Israeli Government is astonished to announce the death of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated in Tel Aviv tonight”.
I was a teenager around your age. It happened only two weeks before I joined the army. This period was a period of hope and optimism, but also a period of fear and pessimism.
On the one hand, Yitzhak Rabin signed a peace agreement with Habdalla, the King of Jordan, And also signed an agreement with the Palestinian Authority. Agreement that was supposed to lead to peace.
On the other hand, a terrible terror wave was in Israel. I was afraid to take a bus or to go shopping in a mall.
There were verbal protests and violence directed at the Prime Minister. Protests that crossed the border and moved to incitement. Some Israeli’s who were against Rabin peace agreement saw him as a traitor and even compared him as a Nazi.
I will never forget the pictures of Rabin in a Nazi S.S uniform.
I remember sitting at home with my family watching a rally on TV in support of peace and democracy and against violence. Suddenly, it was announced that the Prime Minister had been shot. At first, I thought that it was fake news. After I thought it was a terror attack. Then I saw on TV that the murderer, Yigal Amir, was a Jewish man. I was shocked.
For me, Yitzhak Rabin was an inspiring leader. From a warrior in the Palmach, he became a warrior for peace. Not everyone in Israel agreed with his Ideology or his way, and it’s ok. but we all can agree that he dedicated his whole life to the state of Israel. This event influenced me as a teenager and as an adult.
It was hard for me to understand how a Jewish person could kill an Israeli’s prime minster. Where are our values as a society?
First, I have learned that democracy is cannot be taken for granted, and we must keep it alive by going to rallies and voting in elections.
Second, I learned that even if I disagree with someone else's opinions, I should listen. I don't have to accept their idea, but I always need to try to understand their point of view.
Finally, I've learned that thoughts lead to words leading to actions, and we should be responsible for our words.
Twenty seven bones, Thirty five muscles, about two thousand nerve cells in each fingertip of our five fingers. That’s enough to write Mein Kampf ( Nazi’s Ideology Book)
Or winnie the pooh
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