World Report: November 17, 1995 Vol.1 No.9
- This Issue:
- Table of Contents
- Cover Story
- Cover Story - Spanish Version
- Mini-Lesson
- Comprehension Quiz
- Teacher's Guide and Worksheets
Israel Mourns A Man Of Peace
The children came from all over Israel, weeping. Not just hundreds of them, but tens of thousands. They marched sadly to an apartment building in a quiet suburb of Tel Aviv last week. Some carried candles; others sang peace songs. One girl said, "When I ran out of tears, I played my violin to express what I was feeling." They came because the man who used to live there, Yitzhak Rabin, had died while trying to bring peace to their land.
On November 4, Israelis were shocked when a man with a gun killed Rabin, Israel's Prime Minister. But it seemed as though the children were saddest of all.
Batya Meirovich, 11, who attends the Frankel School in Jerusalem, said she had prayed for the Prime Minister just before he died. "I said, 'God, for the sake of Israel and Rabin, please save him,'" she remembers. "When I found out he was dead, I felt so empty." Said her schoolmate Naama Harris, 11: "Rabin was like another father to me."
Rabin's grandson Yonatan Ben-Artzi Philosof, 20, explained why the children are so upset. "They feel that he was their hope that they wouldn't have to fight in the army when they grow up," he said.
Who Was Rabin?
Nobody who knew Yitzhak Rabin when he was young would have guessed that he would make history for trying to stop the fighting. He was a famous fighter.
Born in Jerusalem, Rabin joined Israel's army when the country was brand-new. He became a war hero when Israel fought its Arab neighbors in 1948 and 1967. Under General Rabin's leadership, Israel won control of some Arab land in 1967.
Rabin became the first sabra, or native-born Israeli, to serve as Prime Minister, in 1974. He was known for being very tough on Arab countries.
From Warrior To Peacemaker
Rabin helped build Israel into a strong country with a powerful army. Still, Israel felt threatened. Palestinians launched many terrorist attacks against Israel. They wanted Israel to turn over land it had captured in war. Arab neighbors supported this.
The Palestinians fought the Israelis with rocks and bombs. Rabin decided that the only way to end the battles was to make a deal with the Palestinians. Israel would eventually give back most of the land and allow them to rule themselves, if they promised to stop fighting the Israelis.
Many people in Israel hated this idea. They didn't trust the Palestinians. But Rabin fought for the peace plan. As Prime Minister, he held secret talks with the Palestinians. Then in 1993, he stood on the White House lawn in Washington and shook hands with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. He didn't like Arafat. But he wanted peace.
Israel's Future
If peace comes, Yitzhak Rabin will not see it. A young man named Yigal Amir shot him at a peace rally in Israel's capital, Tel Aviv. Amir belongs to a Jewish group that is against the peace plan. He thought that by killing Rabin, he could kill the peace process.
Now many Israelis want to prove Amir wrong. "The nation is crying," said acting Prime Minister Shimon Peres at Rabin's funeral. "I hope these will be tears for peace among us and peace with our neighbors."
Dying For A Cause
Yitzhak Rabin is not the first leader to lose his life because he fought bravely
for change. At Rabin's memorial, President Clinton said, "My nation knows a long litany of loss. From Abraham Lincoln to President Kennedy to Martin Luther King." Here are some great leaders whose lives were cut short by an assassin's bullets.
President Abraham Lincoln
He led our country through the Civil War and helped abolish slavery 1809-1865
Mahatma Gandhi
He peacefully led the fight to free India from British rule. 1869-1948
President John F. Kennedy
He introduced many programs for the poor and other changes to the government. 1917-1963
Martin Luther King Jr.
He had a dream to give African Americans equal rights 1929-1968
Anwar Sadat
The President of Egypt helped establish the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty in 1979. 1918-1981
