(~And he shall plant [will pitch] the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain...) Son of slain PM Rabin tells i24news that will be the message on the 19th anniversary of the assassination time for Israelis to take their fate into their hands For the first time in 19 years, Israel will hold two different memorial rallies to mark 19 years since the assassination of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Both events will be held in Tel Aviv on consecutive Saturday evenings, on the very square where he was assassinated, but each will bear a completely different message. The second rally on November 8, organized by a youth movement and featuring the President of the State of Israel, Reuven Rivlin, is the conciliatory one, seeking to turn Rabins memory into an apolitical event, accessible to all – left and right, religious and secular. This has been the effort, with questionable success, for many years, but the memory of Rabin remains no less controversial than was the living Rabin. The first rally, to be held on November 1, gave up on any attempt at reconciliation. Even more so: It is meant to be political to the core and promote the Arab Peace Initiative. This event is being organized by the Israeli Peace Initiative, an NGO co-founded by Rabins son, 59-year-old businessman Yuval Rabin, and meant to be a positive Israeli response to the 2002 Arab initiative. Rabin junior is also the main speaker at the rally, alongside Shimon Peres, Yitzhak Rabins partner to the Oslo peace accord with the Palestinians. In that respect, this very different rally pays tribute to Rabin as a peacemaker and sends a clear message: His was a political assassination and the commemoration is political, as well. The timing is right for this step, Yuval Rabin tells i24news. After the last war in Gaza almost all Israeli leaders acknowledge the fact that a window of opportunity has opened, he says. We saw the crucial and positive role Egypt and Saudi Arabia played throughout Operation Protective Edge. Now they all understand that any attempt at peace requires the cooperation of all regional partners to fight those whom my father used to call the killers of peace. So the rally is to be political and totally reflective of what my father stood for – political and military activism. The Arab Peace Initiative is a comprehensive plan first proposed at the Beirut summit of the Arab League in 2002 by then-Crown Prince, today’s King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. The initiative envisages an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict and normalization of ties between Israel and most of the Arab and Muslim world - in return for Israel’s withdrawal to the lines demarcating its territory until 1967, including the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem. Over the years, the Initiative has been reaffirmed by Arab countries and has undergone some changes. The strict demand for a full withdrawal to pre-1967 lines has been replaced by a more flexible formula allowing for mutually agreed land swaps between Israelis and Palestinians. Over 12 years after it was first proposed, Israel has not responded to the initiative nor seriously examined it. Until now, when its almost impossible to listen to any news program without hearing some kind of reference or heated debate on the issue. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman presented it as part of his comprehensive peace plan; Minister of Finance Yair Lapid now refers to a regional conference based on the initiative; PM Netanyahu hints at the need for a regional rather than a bilateral process to end the conflict. Twelve years, two wars and several bloody military operations after it was first broaches, Israelis are starting to acknowledge the plan as an existing option. Just a week ago Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called for the revival of the Arab Initiative and urged Israel to consider it. The summer war in Gaza, the failure of the American effort to revive a bilateral peace dialogue and worldwide hostility towards what is perceived as Israeli reluctance to seriously engage in an attempt to resolve the conflict, appear to be reviving interest in the old initiative. That, plus new regional threats, such as the emergence of the Islamic State, has generated a new reality and calls for regional alliances. Yet, asked if he knows of any actual steps taken in that direction, Yuval Rabin says: As far as I know those currently in power, the answer is no. Thats why we call upon the people to show initiative and take charge of our fate. We dont call for elections, we dont advocate toppling the government. We call for action and address both left and right. Unfortunately, the Israeli left gave up, as well. Most of the lamenting over the so called failure of the Oslo accords comes from the left. The suggestion that the very adoption of a regional peace plan is a rejection of the 1993 bilateral Oslo accord carved out by his father angers Rabin. There was no Arab proposal then and the principles of Oslo are still the best offer, he replies. Yet the right wing has been very successful in erroneously equating Oslo with terrorism. There were many contributing factors to terrorist attacks, among them the massacre of 29 Muslim worshipers in the Cave of the Patriarchs by Baruch Goldstein in February 1994. Its time to take off the table the rhetoric equating concessions (by Israel) with terrorism. Its the risks we took that proved good for Israel. Koby Huberman, a strategy consultant on global business and co-founder of the Israeli Peace Initiative, emphasizes the economic benefit of a regional agreement. This initiative brings us not only an end of the conflict and normalization of relations with most Arab and Muslim countries, but economic perks, as well. New markets as well as new tourism. And I certainly dont mean Israel as the proverbial villa in a jungle. I mean a model of communal regional coexistence. A stable regional economy can secure peace. Since the Israeli Peace Initiative was founded in 2011, Rabin and Huberman have met hundreds of Arab officials and activists who are keeping their end of the initiative alive. In recent days they received the following message from a prominent Arab intellectual. Im so happy youre organizing this rally, he wrote. It feels as if you are putting a bouquet of roses on Yitzhak Rabins grave and empowering us at the same time. Lily Galili is a feature writer, analyst of Israeli society and expert on immigration from the former Soviet Union. She is the co-author of The Million that Changed the Middle East. i24ne.ws/D1Tut
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 15:45:03 +0000
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