Thousands gather in Tel Aviv to remember Yitzhak Rabin

[bemildred]

Around 10,000 people gathered in Rabin Square in central Tel Aviv on Saturday evening for a memorial for the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was assassinated 16 years ago by a right-wing Jewish extremist.

"Since the murder, many have stood over Rabin's grave and sworn to continue his path," former Meretz leader Yossi Sarid told the crowd. "These are imaginary heirs, bearing his name in vain. Yitzhak Rabin was murdered and with him his path was murdered. This is the truth. Rabin is waiting for an heir."

Attorney and Israeli National Left leader Eldad Yaniv told the crowd that in the wake of the recent wave of legislation that critics see as anti-democratic, as well as a spate of "price tag" attacks, that "Israel will remain democratic, and no one will be able to change that. To get there we need not wait for a responsible adult to lead us to the promised land. We must believe we are strong enough to dream of a new country."

The Yitzhak Rabin Center, which has traditionally been in charge of the memorial event, decided not to participate in its organizing this year. Instead, a new organization called “November 4, 1995” was in charge of organizing and funding the event.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/thousands-gather-in-tel-aviv-to-remember-yitzhak-rabin-1.395185

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Violet_Crumble]

2. I didn't realise Arabs all think exactly the same way.

I'd take a pretty safe bet that a sizeable number of Egyptians (you don't mind me calling them Egyptians, rather than Arabs, do you?) do in fact mourn his assassination...

[LeftishBrit]

3. RIP

I was and am with them in spirit.

[Scurrilous]

4. IDF bars soldiers from Rabin 'political' memorial

In previous years the event was organized by a state-sponsored body, the Rabin Center; this year, it was organized by a private group.

<snip>

"Israel Defense Forces soldiers were forbidden by the army to attend last Saturday's rally in memory of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. This is the first time soldiers have been barred from attending the annual event, held in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square.

The decision to prohibit soldiers from attending the memorial rally stems from the fact that in previous years the event was organized by a state-sponsored body, the Rabin Center. This year, it was organized by a private group.

The order not to attend the rally was issued by the Education Corps with the approval of the chief education officer, Brig. Gen. Eli Shermeister. However, it was not distributed to all IDF units, so many soldiers did attend the rally, having no idea they were forbidden to do so. Most of those who did receive the order were youth movement members serving in the Education Corps itself.

Since the Rabin Center was established by legislation and is funded by the government, the rallies it organized over the previous 15 years were defined as state events. Therefore, the IDF did not object to soldiers' participation, even though the rallies were dominated by left-wing parties and movements that gave them a clear political character.

This year, however, the Rabin family decided that the center would not organize the rally. Therefore, a private group called the Fourth of November was established to do so. Since it no was no longer under the auspices of a state agency, the IDF defined this year's rally as a political event, meaning soldiers were barred from participating."

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/idf-bars-soldiers-from-rabin-political-memorial-1.395987