"Lift your eyes with hope, not through the rifles' sights; sing a song for love, and not for wars," chorused tens of thousands of Israelis at a rally Saturday night commemorating assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
Men and women, old and young, who congregated at and around the Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, the site of the notorious crime, many with tears in the eyes, sang along as Israeli singer Miri Aloni performed the Song for Peace, a song calling for an end to violence, a song soaked with the late premier's blood.
Thirteen years ago, on the night of Nov. 4, the general-turned political leader joined Aloni on the same stage in singing the song, after he told the thousands of Israelis gathered at the same square for a peace rally that "this government... decided to give peace a chance, a peace that will solve most of Israel's problems."
"The path of peace is preferable to the path of war... For them (Israeli soldiers), for our children, in my case for our grandchildren, I want this government to exhaust every opening, every possibility, to promote and achieve a comprehensive peace," declared the Labor Party chief earlier that night.
Yet in a manner shocking the whole nation, the singing became Rabin's last public voice. On the way to his car, the then 73-year- old leader was gunned down by a far-right extremist who vehemently opposed Rabin's signing of the historic Oslo Accords in1993, which created the Palestinian National Authority and granted it partial control over parts of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
"You, Yitzhak, the torchbearer, were murdered, but the flame has not died. Your dream will triumph. We are here to carry the hope until it materializes," Defense Minister Ehud Barak, the current Labor chairman, told the mournful crowd against the backdrop of a large head portrait of Rabin and a striking slug "13Years after the Murder."
Prior to Barak, President Shimon Peres, Rabin's top diplomat back then, who sang together with Rabin that night and was just a few steps away when the incident happened, also appeared at the stage, which was decorated with a large streamer saying "Yes to Peace, No to Violence."
"Yitzhak, you are missed, but your way has not been lost," said the 85-year-old political veteran, who shared the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize with Rabin and late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for their contributions to the Oslo Accords. "Peace is closer than we think, and we should make every effort in his memory to complete it."
Attentively, the audience at the annual non-official but largest memorial assembly, crowding the square renamed after the two-term prime minister, listened to the appeals for peace. Some 100 meters away from the stage, candles were lit and wreaths were laid at the exact spot where Rabin was fatally shot, with many holding vigils for the slain leader.
Yet 13 years after the murder, the shadow of assassination once again fretted the Jewish state, which remains deeply divided over the peace process. Israel's Shin Bet security agency warned earlier this week that far-right extremists would not hesitate to "use firearms in order to stop political processes and target political leaders."
The alert came forth in the wake of a recent upsurge of settler violence, in which radicals carried out dozens of attacks in the West Bank against not only Palestinian residents but Israeli soldiers, prompting its leaders to beef up taming measures and strenuously call for national unity.
"We used to call them weeds, today they are no less than cancerous growths. We promise you Yitzhak, we will remove this evil from us," said Barak, echoing Peres' warning that internal strife is endangering his country.
"In the worst possible way, those three gunshots (that killed Rabin) united the citizens of Israel for a second, and then they became divided once again," noted Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, chairwoman of the ruling Kadima party and a strong premiership contender at the general election in February. "We must put an end to the division in Israel."
Meanwhile, thirteen years after Rabin's peace declaration, peace remains elusive. Israeli and Palestinian leaders revived peace talks last November after a seven-year breakdown following the Palestinian uprising, yet their pledge to reach a comprehensive peace deal within 2008 was recently abandoned as large gaps persist on borders, settlements, the status of Jerusalem and other key issues.
"I am not very optimistic about the peace prospect, as opposition exists inside both sides," a senior Israeli citizen giving his name as Yoav told Xinhua at the Rabin Square, one of many who said they could not see a bright future under current circumstances or they were worried that the situation might get worse.
While also cautioning that the chances for peace in the near future are "not good," an Israeli young man in his 20s who identified himself as Omer added firmly that "but we must search away to peace."
Omer's remarks accord with the stance of many others, including Barak, who told the rally that "we have no other land and no other way. There is no substitute for peace."
Source: Xinhua
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