Alienated from the mourning
The hate glands are working overtime these days. After only a decade, Yitzhak Rabin's murder, just like "the settlers" and "the settlements," has become part of the left's spiritual identity.
By Nadav ShragaiThe hate glands are working overtime these days. After only a decade, Yitzhak Rabin's murder, just like "the settlers" and "the settlements," has become part of the left's spiritual identity. The facts no longer change a thing. And when it comes to the murder, its circumstances and lessons, an honest discussion and expression of other views is not really possible.
The clearest symptom of this is the repeated identification of many political and ideological statements by the right against the Oslo Accords and the disengagement plan with support for murder, or the depiction of these statements as facilitating another political murder.
For Rabin's adherents, his murder sanctifies not only the man, but also his path, the path of Oslo. In the same way that the murder was illegitimate, those who continue to reject the heritage of the murdered prime minister have also been deemed illegitimate. The accusatory finger the left points at the "right" is all-inclusive, full of distortions and interwoven with expressions of incitement and instigation, especially toward the national-religious public. The shock and pain from the murder are harnessed to promote the policy of one camp and vilify the views of the rival camp.
The overwhelming majority of the protest against Rabin and his path was legitimate, but the murder caused this to be forgotten. Hundreds of thousands took part in this protest, and they would also like to remember the terrible murder and its significance, but not Rabin's heritage. The left, which has laid claim to the mourning, does not allow them to do this.
A decade later, the anniversary of Rabin's murder remains the inheritance of half of the nation. The other half, which has found it very difficult to identify with the content of this memorial day and remains cloistered at home, now feels real alienation from it. The people who during the initial years tried to get through the day's events as if possessed by a ghost, with a minimum of involvement or identification, have felt repugnance and loathing for this day and its content during recent years, after the left turned it into a type of ritual and tool in its battle to fashion Israeliness in its own image.
This ritual has four components: attributing responsibility for the murder to the entire national-religious community; the heritage of Rabin, who was a centrist, being unjustly portrayed as the heritage of Beilin and the extreme left; "Oslo," which equipped our bitterest enemies with weapons and territory, and sowed terrorism, bereavement and blood, being depicted on this day as the hope of all the generations; and the fourth component constitutes a direct continuation of the mobilization of the governmental system during the disengagement period, including the judicial system, on behalf of one side in the political dispute that divides us today. Freedom of expression and dissent when it comes to Rabin, his legacy, his image and actions, has become practically impossible.
The national-religious camp was indeed a central axis in the tough fight against Rabin and his policy. Anyone wishing to learn about the character of this fight can read "Different Wind," a book by Yona Presburger that documents it. The "wind" was indeed "different" - this is, after all, the essence of democracy - but it was also legitimate. The fight focused on the argument that the policy of Rabin, who was pushed into it by Peres and Beilin, aided the enemy. You do not have to be the chairman of the education committee in Elkana to realize that Rabin, despite the fact that he undoubtedly did not want this, indeed brought the vision of our enemies to fruition. The fact that the weapons and territories the Palestinians were given under the Oslo Accords were used in a campaign of murder and terror leading to the deaths of about 1,700 Israelis and the wounding of thousands more, should also not be blurred. It is a large leap from this to the portrayal of the national-religious community as murderous, inciting and mutinous. Sometimes it seems the very presence of this community, its vitality and growth, is the problem. After all, this community, unlike Ariel Sharon or Ehud Olmert, refuses to change its opinion or religion.
Rabin, who made a severe mistake when he signed the Oslo Accords, had red lines that the left finds convenient to ignore today. In one of the last speeches he delivered, Rabin promised that no Israeli settlement would be uprooted during the period of interim agreements, that construction in settlements would continue during this period, and that the Jordan Valley would be Israel's security border "in the widest sense of the term." He was even precise in speaking about a "Palestinian entity" - not a state. Thus, Caroline Glick very correctly noted in her article in Mekor Rishon a week ago that the argument stating that "the Geneva Accord is an expression of Rabin's heritage" is baseless. The left's complete disregard for the revelations about Rabin in the book by military historian Dr. Uri Milstein and its refusal to confront them is an indication of weakness and reflects the left's fear that this might undermine its worldview.
The left refuses to believe that the masses who took part in the protest against Rabin and the Oslo policy also want to remember the terrible murder and its implications, but not Rabin's heritage, which was also adopted by the disengagement government led by Sharon and Olmert. These masses cannot do so as long as the memorial ceremonies for Rabin are exploited for standing at attention and saluting the Oslo Accords and the disengagement.
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Oslo was Rabin'r recognizion Zionism is dead. Hopefully Peretz will recognize that and bring peace. It's a good sign he will bring in the Arab parties into the next goverment. He also needs to outlaw the racist zionist parties like Likud
I believe that killing Rabin was a criminal act and it can not be justified. I do not beleive that "deifying" a mortal, living or dead is balanced. Many religious people deify their leaders, many of them undeserving.Perhaps this is the only moral highground the Left Wing of Israel can claim. I think it is overplayed to say the least. Rachel
The author, and his article, are wrong from the basic premise stated in the title. If the right in Israel is alientated from the mourning, it has alienated itself. There has been no real introspection, and the pro-settlement, anti-Oslo right has never really fully come to terms with the extent to which they created the circumstances - through their use of hyperbole and extreme language and actions - in which the murderer felt justified in carrying out his evil act. For nearly a decade, every anniversary of the assassination has brought with it a mixture of lies and libels, ranging from conspiracy theories to the assertion, repeated here, that Rabin was not really behind Oslo. In recent years we have also witnessed unimaginable calls for pardoning his murderer - as if the perceived shortcomings of Oslo made his act somehow more "reasonable" or legitimate. The fact is, Rabin was not euchred into accepting Oslo. He was always very clear and open about his reasons and the logic behind his decisions. Those on the right did incite - in the most viscious terms possible - calling both Rabin and Peres "traitors", rather than entering into civilized debate. And, even if a government agent may have printed the now infamous posters of Rabin in an SS uniform, the fact is that there was no shortage of right-wing fanatics in Kikar Zion brandishing those posters - in full view of their silent leadership. If the right wants to mourn, then let them join in and do so. But why does this have to be specifically on their terms? Who granted them the right to decide what aspects of the man's life to mourn, and which, including his heritage, to ignore.
The truth is that 1967 he almost had a nervous breakdown.But lets talk about something relevant.His weakness to not saying no to Peres resulted in 1700 deaths.You dont have to be brilliant to know the results for bringing the PLO to your doorstep.Rabins response to the teror after Oslo was sacrifices for peace.Gee thats great leadership.
If Rabin had lived he probably would now be detested by 3/4 of those who now wrongly use him as an icon for their own views.
Mourn "victims of peace", not those who supplied the murderers with arms and ammo.
I am not from south africa and neither are any family members. But your negative feel for being Jewish is your own private matter and should be no justification for a Bi-National State. Rabin brought a horror show to Israel when he armed the PLO. Instead of encouraging Jews to move to Israel (which is in the cards for me), he allowed Arabs to immigrate under family reunification. Beilin is on record as working to redefine the Jewish people into some kind of club, and remember it was Beilin that spearheaded the secret Beilin/Mazen talks. And Beilin was sent by Rabin. Rabin had his chance and he blew it. It was Yigal Amir that made Rabin popular, because Netanyahu was way ahead of Rabin in the polls due to terrorism. Every Jew that was murdered by the PLO, Rabin called a 'victim for peace'. Every Jew yearns for peace but not under any illusions. You also have a problem with spelling as do most pro-arab Jews. Peace is PEACE NOT PIECE BY PIECE.
What you talking about Meir. You wouldn't know the truth if it jumped up & hit you in the face. BTW are you by any chance the Meir Weinstein whose father was rhe rabbi in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, who most of my generation have to thank for frightening us away from religion in the late 50's?? Coz you sure as hell sound like him!!
So shylock (whispered) I am NOT a real liberal & NOT righteous. But I am a REAL PROUD ISRAELI. I notice you are too ashamed to state your whereabouts...........I FEEL SORRY FOR YOU
Are you saying that Jews should join the IDF and fight for a Bi-National State. Is that what all the sacrifice is for? Remember, Labour is not supported by the majority of Jews. Oslo was a failure that resulted in the shedding of lots of Jewish Blood. To fight for a Jewish State is noble and anything less than that is not worth it. Just remember, there are 22 Arab Only States in the region and 1 Small Jewish State. Is it too much to want a Strong Exclusive Open Minded Jewish State?
The answer is NO. Rabin has already trailed behind Netanyahu in the public opinion polls. The Oslo accords and the economic impotence of Rabin's government did not make him lots of friends among the voters. On the contrary, the murder almost left the Left at the government for another 4 years, because after the murder the Labor party enjoyed a huge public support. But the Left swindled their chance by opening the witch-hunt against the Likud and its leader. Too bad for the eternal looser Peres...
B"H Everyone seems to forget that Rabin was not such a national hero. While his murder was wrong and evil, he should not be portrayed as a great Israeli statesman. Had Rabin lived on he would have seen the demise of the nation. He would have seen the terror. He would have understood the fatal nature of his actions. I believe that while it is a sad day and should be rememebered as such, a glorification of Rabin as a brilliant statesman is wrong.
The author is certainly right about one thing: Rabin's legacy was distorted by the ideologists whose position is much more dovish than his was. Rabin wasn't ready to divide Jerusalem, Rabin wasn't ready to let go of the Jordan Valley, Rabin intended to hold on 40% of the West Bank after the peace accords. The true Rabin was much closer to today's Sharon than to Beilin and Peretz. The fanatic who killed him didn't let us all understand this on time.
How can someone believe what the Israeli army, government, and intelligence say?! They caught many times lying or changed their stories. Here are a few examples. The Israeli intelligence agreed with the American and British about Iraq?s non-existing weapons of mass destruction. They lied about 1967 war and the destruction of the American warship Liberty. They lied about incidents such as those 3 Palestinians killed in Tulkarm a few weeks ago and about the incident in Hebron a few years ago in which 12 Israeli soldiers and security officers were killed. Israel represented the attack as attack on worshippers returning from Saturday?s prayers and Annak rushed to condemn it. A few weeks ago when a Hamas man and Fatah man were killed in a car, the Israeli army said the Hamas man was killed by accident and he was not the target, but Raanan Gissin (Sharon?s spokesman) said the two men were on their way to launch a terror attack! Here is one more thing: when an Israeli soldier is killed, Israel says ?an Israeli was killed? or ?an Israeli citizen was killed? to make people think the person who died is a civilian and this trick is playing very well with American, British, Australian, and Canadian media and commentators. In addition, they always blame Palestinians for their won death. When Israelis kill Palestinians, the Palestinians are to blame (because terrorists operate from civilian areas, or the school children who were carrying their bags looked as if they were carrying bombs or planting bombs and so on!). Here are a few things to remember: by the same logic, Israeli soldiers should not ride on civilian buses or restaurants, or markets and so on. In addition, imagine if the British police took civilian human shields while it was raiding a criminal hideout and some of those civilians were killed (as the Israeli army did for many years) or it expelled or arrested their relatives! Moreover when a Palestinian 16 y.o. boy is killed, Israel and the media that supports it says a Palestinian man was killed but when an Israeli 15 y.o. boy is killed, the very same media say an Israeli child was killed! Also every armed Palestinian is called militant or terrorist but most Israelis are armed including settlers, off-duty soldiers, and army reserves. Those are not called militants by Israel and the media that supports it! In addition such media includes in its definition, Palestinian resistant to the Israeli occupation army, but Israeli Arabs who are killed by fanatic Jews are not considered terror victims!
Every once in a while Israel invents a creative collective punishment for the Palestinians, then it says after sometime: we?ll make a compromise and ease some of those or remove them for a while, but now it?s the Palestinians turn to compromise. Then the international community says: how nice from Israel! The Palestinians now must deliver. Of course, the Palestinians are expected to give away part of their land and some of their rights. In the meantime, Israel invents many more obstacles and then starts an endless new round of negotiation (Wolfensohn even said that Israel drags negotiations forever). Here is the thing: where is the Israeli compromise? If someone steals 100 dollars from you, locks you up and starts beating you because you complained and because you want 20 of them and you want to be free, then he offers you 45% of the 20 dollars and offers to stop beating you for a while or to beat you less severely or to ease a little your confinement, then where is the compromise?! Compromise means you give something from your own pocket not the victim?s pocket! Once again Hilary Clinton (for her own agenda) is repeating as a parrot, there is no Palestinian partner! What kind of partner they want? They want someone to receive and execute orders from Israel and gives away the rights of his people. If he doesn?t do that, he becomes an obstacle. As we said before, the problem is that the Palestinians have no partner and they never had because Rabin, Peres, Barak, Natanyahu, and Sharon, all accelerated settlement construction after Oslo which shows they never were interested in leaving the West Bank (and BTW don?t let the term ?settlement blocks? fool you; look at the map of settlements, you?ll find out they were designed to prevent a viable Palestinian state and to control the resources such as water and natural reserves). Let me say to Hilary: do you dare to ask Israel to comply with UN resolutions?! The Palestinians are only asking for that; i.e. for what the international law grants them. But finally the Palestinians may have a partner, Peretz.
Here is what Israel is doing to cheat on new settlements: 1) It?s using the so called illegal outposts which the Israeli army protects and Israel provides infrastructure to. 2) It?s confiscating large areas from Palestinians near the existing settlements and building new ones there. Instead of calling them new settlements, it calls them neighborhoods of existing ones to support natural growth! 3) It is converting military bases to settlements and confiscating larger Palestinian land to build new bases to replace the evacuated ones. Here is an old map of the illegal outposts (the new ones are not included): http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/israel/map/ There are radical Zionists who still say there are 22 Arab states and one tiny Jewish state and so the Palestinians have no right in a state on their own land! By the same logic, if you have a home and your brother has one and there is a homeless man in the neighborhood, you should give your home to the homeless and move and live with your brother who should welcome you there! Here is the US we love Israel more than the Arabs love the Palestinians, so why don?t you immigrate to the US? There are more than 22 US states! Here are a few more points: when Israel implements new collective punishments on the Palestinians, it tries to justify them by saying these are old decisions (as if that makes them legal!) or temporary. Then they become permanent and the world?s memory is short, so they don?t pay attention to that. This is what they did with the wall (Barak himself should we must let the wall grab as much land as possible before it?s too late and Sharon said we must build in settlements quietly).
Believing that the murder of a prime minister is absolutely wrong regardless of your political view is what the Rabin commemoration should be about. I do not have to "miss" Rabin as a leader to still believe it is wrong to murder our prime minister. I do not have to have agreed with him or thought he was a good leader to believe it is wrong to kill our prime minister. It is unfair to ask that someone who did not agree with Rabin, be denied the chance to mourn the murder of a leader. I mourn the murder. i mourn the destruction of democracy. I hope that is not permitted only to supporters of Rabins legacy
or do you just talk to them about OUR country and your fascination with another peoples country that you have no time to consider your own country???
1) If you can count 100,000 as 200,000 then 100,000 people can stay home, no problem 2) The Rabin Center as an appendage of the Labor party allows yet another unregulated channel for funding party activities 3) If you can imagine the Catholic Church without Easter, without the Jews being held responsible, then..... A passion play is not only good theater it is good propaganda. So until the Israel left holds it's version of Vatican II, the Israeli right has not choice but to opt out of the events
they talk softly to show their righteousness.
"I can just see all little fascists lighting candles home in privat moarning sessions for Yithzak Rabin" Would that be similiar to you and you're storm trooper buddies lighting candles for Abu Amr, one of the most sucessful murderers of the last 50 years. And forget about the Jews, we know they don't count. Ask the people of southern Lebanon about Arafat and the PLO; ask the international travelers blown up in planes and airports and cafes. Ooops, They can't answer anymore.
We all know that the anniversary of Rabin's murde has become an annual ritual for Israel's delusional Left, orchestrated mainly to shed the guilt complex of its Oslo accords. This last anniversary was moreover used as a promotion for the Geneva proposals -- an even greater suicidal folly than Oslo! All these ceremonies serve nothing but to mislead World Opinion (as well as some gullible Israelis) that the lack of Arab-Israeli Peace is due to things that are within Israel's control -- i.e., something Israel does or does not carry out... Whereas in actual reality, it only has to do with the fact that -- due to deeply-engrained religious and nationalistic forces -- the Arab-Islamist World simply refuses to recognize the existence of a sovereign infidel Jewish state in the Middle East, and will not give up its 100-year war for its destruction. And every concession that Israel makes to these genocidal enemies (like our friend Khalid), will only embolden their resolve, let alone cause them to become more forthcoming! Keep in mind: - Staged destruction of Israel (PA ruling party: Fatah): http://www.fateh.net/e_public/constitution.htm#Goals - Immediate destruction of Israel (PA main opposition party: Hamas): http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/mideast/hamas.htm Thanks for this Haaretz article for injecting some much-needed sanity into the subject!
If Rabin had lived... He would have forced Arafat to keep his part of the Oslo "bargain". He would have not allowed the "process" to continue if Hamas was allowed to exist in the PA-controlled areas. He would not have allowed Oslo II to pass in the Knesset by buying off an MK with an automobile. In other words, he would have not allowed the "peace process" to become an "appeasement process".
Yes whinestein he was one of our terrible leaders who brought us VICTORY in 48, 56, 67 by LEADING from the front & NOT stabbing us in the back from the safety of Toronto Canada. Mr whinestein you don't deserve to breathe the same air that Yitzchak Rabin & other ISRAELI heroes breath. It is he & many other BRAVE ISRAELIS who give you, & others like you, the right to swagger around your galut centres with PRIDE @ being JEWISH.
Do you see what happens when you don't allow responses to these "armchair Zionists" from the galut. they continue spewing their kahane venom & the anti's out there think we are like that & constantly use it against us. But then, that's what you want. INNIT??? You lot are PATHETIC!
Peretz and that mustache, A jewish conspiracy against a PM, forced transfers..... Does sound familiar doesn't it?
the point made here is fair - the assassination of a prime minister is a pain and tragedy that the right should suffer as well as the left, and to exclude the right from doing so is only counter-productive. But Shragai should not allow himself to manipulate either. To say that we must devorce Peace politics from the Rabin memorial is disingenuous and reveals othe motives. Rabin's politics was about peace, and he died for it. Rabin was not Beilin, this is true, but Rabin was definitely not Sharon. Rabin saw that the long term cost of not having peace was so great that we must be prepared to *lose* a little. Not trade, not con or swindle or even haggle - but lose. Sharon does not seem prepared to lose anything - anything dear to him - for the greater goal of peace (or at least quiet -no peace is eternal). Rabin's "legacy" is humility. Is recognising that it's not always best to be right, that not every battle is worth fighting, and that some are worth losing.
What do you think of the honors held to terrorists bomb which explode murdering other people?
Most of the right is happy Rabin got shot.They should know , the campaign of incitment they led ,created the atmosphere for his murder. The only thing I wonder about is when is the left going to start hitting below the belt? No wonder the right laughs at the left, if I was on the right I would laugh too. All the fear goes one way only,hopefully with Peretz, a man of backbone the left will start to play hardball.
Rabin brought the worst of terror to the Jewish State. He gave guns to the PLO. He pushed family reunification (right of return) for the Arabs. His actions prove that a Binational State was in the winds. There are 22 Arab Only States, why is it a crime against humanity to have a Small Jewish State with no anti Jewish Arabs. All the memorial services for Rabin only further the platform of a Bi-National State. And the late Leah Rabin was on record, being in favour of Jews marrying Arabs. A Jewish public figure must do and say positive things to ensure a good Jewish future.
People read into Rabin what they want to believe. I tend to agree with pt though. The buses would still have blown up and history would probably have taken the same course. I am uncomfortable with the deification of any human being and think Jews should only swear fealty to God. Was Rabin right? Was he wrong? He took a shot. I am curious about one thing though. Johannes Franzen. Are you Moslem, are you Jewish. Why are you so interested in the Middle East conflict? You seem to think that all Israel has to do is A,B,C. Do the Arabs have any obligations under your plan. And what evidence do you have that they will keep their word.
pt is of course on the mark.nothing would have changed had rabin not been so terribly killed.
Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Rabin was shot while advancing a pro-peace agenda, at the conclusion of a pro-peace rally, after singing a pro-peace song, by someone who violently opposed his program. Not a year later, the opposition party took power. Can one really separate the circumstances of Rabin's death from their political context?! Such a demand seems naive at best and tendentious at worst. Anyone wishing to mourn Yitzhak Rabin while not wishing to endorse his agenda has ample opportunity. Visit his grave, stand and reflect at the memorial marking the site of his asassination, donate funds to one of the many organizations seeking to encourage dialogue and discourage violence. Any of these actions seems more genuine than trying to whitewash the significance of what happened here ten years ago.
shragai is uncharitable.milstein was writing about a time when rabin were very young. no one behaves impeccably on the battlefield at all times.battlefields are full of confusion. rabin had a great military career.why do you choose to forget that and dwell on his young days?
Rabin took a risk for peace, and he should be admired for that, but he was a very cautious man, a soldier and a realist, and given the intentions of Arafat and his gang, it is extremely unlikey, had Rabin lived, that he would have been able to bring about a final peace deal. The notion that had he lived, all would be different, I think is wrong. The situation probably wouldn't look much different then it does today.
Israeli rightists saying they want to mourn Rabin are about as credible as Texas Republicans claiming the mourn the loss of John F. Kennedy. You can't truly claim that you mourn Rabin's loss if you opposed him and were fighting for the pre-Oslo status quo, were fighting to keep the Palestinians oppressed, and were demonizing anyone who supported a two-state solution as "anti-Israel" or G-d forbid, antisemitic. These were also the people who were calling Moshe Dayan's daughter "Arafat's whore"! The only way to honor Rabin is to complete the peace process and accept the reality of a Palestinian state.
I can just see all little fascists lighting candles home in privat moarning sessions for Yithzak Rabin, explaining to their children the loss to the country. Can't you? "We moarn too" isn't going to fool anybody but fools.
In Israel there used to be "right"...What this author fails to recognize is the fact that the right has now been taken over by the far-right. In short, the "right" is diminishing, as the Israeli society is drifting menacingly to brash racism and extremism. The passage of 10 years since the assassinaton of Rabin only deepened this trend.
Sad, but true article. Rabin's murderer was encouraged by an undercover government agent. Rabin's murder allowed the Oslo war to continue. So, what is his legacy other than hatred of anyone who is not a "leftist"?
There is not much to add to this piece. It is simply and sadly accurate.
We on the Right mourn for the thousands of Jews killed by Rabin's actions and policies. Rabin & co. brought in Arafat and his Tunisian terrorists who immediately started their terrorist murder spree. Rabin & co. gave these terrorists weapons, access and guns which were quickly used against all of Israel. Why should we mourn the man whose heritage and legacy is more than just capitulation to terrorism, but actual collaberation. We also mourn the Jews on the Altalena (and those in the water too) that he shot and murdered.
Yes, well when one of the "right" is assassinated by someone on the "left," we'll do things differently, shall we? In the meantime, it hasn't happened.