Clinton attends Rabin commemoration
Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin President has spoken at the public rally in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square held in memory of assassinated Prime Minister and Defence Minister Yitzchak Rabin, marking the 20th anniversary of his murder.
President Rivlin addresses the crowd in Rabin Square Photo: Kobi Zach
President Rivlin said: “Twenty years ago, a vicious murderer stood in this square, and aimed his pistol at Yitzchak Rabin. Yitzchak fell in the line of duty. We were – all of us – in the crosshairs; the State of Israel, Israeli democracy, Israeli society, Israeli hope. We all were the target. We stand here today, together, before that same murderer’s target – before the hatred and loathing of the extreme and violent fringes of society, to say: you shall not overcome us. The Jewish and democratic State of Israel, the state of the Declaration of Independence, will not become a sacrifice on your altar of violence and fear. Never.
“And to those who seek to silence others, to those who threaten, to those who raise their clenched fists, to those who design pictures of SS uniforms, to those who threaten members of the legislature and judiciary, to those who threaten ministers and prime ministers, I want to say to them all: We do not fear you. We do not fear you. You should know that the Israeli people are aware and courageous. This is a people committed to its basic principles, even in a cruel and complex reality. Even in the midst of the current bloodshed, even in the face of the heinous terrorism which does not distinguish between Tel Aviv and Gush Etzion, Be’er Sheva and Kochav HaShachar. Israel’s democracy has not ceased to realize its strength and resilience, and for this we are today filled with pride.
President Bill Clinton and President Reuven Rivlin
“Yitzchak said, “At the age when most students seek to decipher the secrets of mathematics and the mysteries of the Bible,” said Yitzchak, “At the age when first loves blossom, at the age of 16, I was handed a rifle to defend my life. That was not my dream.”
“Dear friends, without vision, without hope, without a dream – the people will be left desolate. Two decades have gone by, and still we remain overly focused on the wounds of the past, and not enough on building the future. Too much we focus on the notions of the righteousness and insult felt by each side, each camp and group within us, and not enough on listening and understanding the other. Too much are we focused on fear, and not enough on hope. We should have no fear. Israel’s democracy is solid enough, and we are brave and strong enough to open wide Israel’s gates, so that all the groups within us may play an equal part in shaping the character and future of the State of Israel.
“We are here today because we have a dream. Because alongside debates over the path we should take, alongside our different hopes and identities, we also share a common dream. We share a common Israeli dream. While we may debate the path, we are dreaming together of an Israel led by the beacon of justice; of an Israel determined to continue forward in the vision of the Prophets of Israel. While we may debate the path, we are dreaming together, of an Israel which rids itself of extremism and racism; of an Israel in which we listen to and learn to respect one another, regardless of color, gender, creed, or language. While we may debate the path, we are dreaming together of an Israel of which we all feel apart. An Israel which is both Jewish and democratic, democratic and Jewish – in one utterance.
“Dear friends, you who stand before me, young men and women, youth movement leaders and members, from the Right and Left, ultra-Orthodox, religious, secular, Jews and Arabs – young leaders, the best and brightest of our land. The fact that we are all standing here this evening, together by your initiative, is your victory, and it is our victory. Allow the Israel Defence Forces and security services to defend our homes and our borders. You – you must fight for your dreams, you must fight for our common dream.”
Consider this:
The people of Puerto Rico are ruled by the U.S.A. They do not harbour designs to destroy the U.S.A, but those people do not have the right to vote for the U.S. Congress. They have only local autonomy.
“Palestinian”Arab society by and large wants to destroy Israel, yet the United States wants Israel to give them an independent state with which to achieve that aim.
BTW, “Palestinian Media Watch” (PMW) contains a translation of Abbas’s speech (unexpurgated) where he says that the whole of Israel is “occupied territory.”
His newsagency censored that part in the publicised version, so clearly they still do have some reservations about revealing their true intentions even though the West is a willing accomplice to the fiction of a “two-state solution.”
Yitzhak Rabin said that a Palestinian Arab state would mean the end of Israel.
All the hullabaloo about him totally misrepresents his plan- what he was prepared to donate and what he wasn’t.
He said: no independent “Palestinian” state- only autonomy
a united Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty
all the communities in Judaea and Samaria to continue to thrive
Israeli military presence in the Jordan Valley
Westerners like Clinton are now so firmly welded to the Arab camp that the “palestinians’ now feel free to drop their mask of “moderation” and of being “two-state solution” partners. This was unequivocally shown by Abbas in recent days, when he declared that the whole of Israel is “occupied territory,” not just Judaea and Samaria.
They don’t even pretend any longer to be “peace partners” because they are confident of uncritical Western support.
Yes, Clinton attended this commemoration of Yitzchak Rabin, and what an insult to the Israeli people that he should get up on the podium to speak and remind Israelis that they must seek to live in peace with their neighbours, putting the onus on them as it were. I saw this as a television news extract, so it’s possible it was out of context. Either way it’s not good: if it is in context Clinton is at fault and if it isn’t, the media are up to their old tricks again. At least Rabin when he spoke for peace, recognised the fact that you need two parties wanting it.