President Reuven Riblin chose to open his speech Saturday night at the second memorial rally for slain prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, with a quote from the late premier: Violence is eating away at the foundations of Israeli democracy. It must be condemned, denunciated and isolated. This is not the way of the State of Israel. These, Rivlin said, were Rabins last words, said 19 years prior in the very same square in Tel Aviv. 19 years have passed since, almost two decades. But violence has not gone away. Its inside us, rearing its head and towering over us, establishing its place, Rivlin said at the rally organized by Zionist youth movements and the National Union of Israeli Students. Violence is not just at schools, in social media, in protests and in soccer fields, the president said. Its inside us: the language we speak, the words we choose, the way we argue, in our inability to listen. While Israel is in a violent and difficult neighborhood, violence is not Israels way, he said. We wont win the war against terror only to lose the struggle for our character, Rivlin stressed. Were in a continuous war against enemies from without, but we must stop targeting enemies from within, he added. We were silent then, in the difficult days before Rabins murder. We have sinned, Yitzhak, Rivlin said. We must not be silent today. We must understand that silence means having given up on the dream, that we have forgotten why we returned to our homeland. Democracy cannot stand unsupported, the president went on to say. Rabin wasnt murdered because of momentary weakness of Israeli democracy. But, and mostly because, the social atmosphere in which hostility and imperviousness reigned over us, he said. We didnt have a shared language, we didnt have a shared vision. We couldnt clearly indicate to values we share. And democracy is based on values, on listening, partnership and vision, Rivlin continued. The president demanded the youth movements and students who organized the rally to abandon the words we used to put a stain on the past, abandon the words we continue to use to put a stain on the present. Find the words to write ours and your future. While the security forces protect Israels borders, Rivlin said, you will protect our home. You are the bridges built over that abyss that was once between us - left and right, haredi and secular, Arabs and Jews - you are now succeeding where we once failed, he continued. ynetnews/articles/0,7340,L-4589415,00.html
Posted on: Sat, 08 Nov 2014 19:08:16 +0000