Rabin monument vandalized -- "Kahane was right" and swastikas painted by vandals

The Jerusalem Post ^ | 31 October 2003 | JPOST.COM STAFF

[anotherview]

Oct. 31, 2003
Rabin monument vandalized
By JPOST.COM STAFF

The Rabin Memorial, defaced

The Rabin Memorial in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square was defaced early Friday morning by vandals painting swastikas.

"Everything should be done to find those responsible for the act of vandalism, and to uproot such phenomena," said Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

The vandalism comes one day before a scheduled rally to commemorate the eighth anniversary of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin's murder. The monument has already been vandalized just before memorials for Rabin were due to take place, and police had placed a guard in the area to prevent a recurrence.

Workers used high-pressured water sprays to clean white paint from the black memorial stones and plaque in the plaza.

President Katzav expressed his dismay and called upon all Israelis to participate in commemorative events.

Rabin's daughter, former MK Dalia Rabin-Pelossof, was quoted by Israel Radio Friday morning saying that it's about time violence and incitement in Israeli society were addressed.

Peace Now activist Yariv Oppenheimer placed blame squarely on the shoulders of the attorney-general, the state attorney's office and the police, who "fell asleep while on guard and haven't taken sufficient measures against the Kach movement," which should be banned, he said.

Rabin murderer Yigal Amir's mother, Geula, told radio reporters that the commemoration event was no more than a foreign custom, and that "if anyone wants to remember someone, they don't need public gatherings to do so."

Labor Party Chairman Shimon Peres blames the extreme right for once again promoting incitement and irresponsibile declarations.

Other desecrations have appeared in Bnei Brak, Herzliya and along the Tel-Aviv Jerusalem highway.

The words "Kahane was right" were found painted on the memorial, referring to the extreme-right Kach movement.

Right-wing activist Itamar Ben Gvir denied involvement, saying that his movement abhors the use of Nazi-related slogans in reference to Jews.

[anotherview]

The words "Kahane was right" were found painted on the memorial, referring to the extreme-right Kach movement.

If this is what the "national camp" is up to I am glad I have no part in it. There is conservative, as in Republicans in American and Likud in Israel. Then there is extremism, which often dominates the discussion of all things to do with Israel on Free Republic.

Oslo didn't work and we know that. To deface the Rabin memorial with swastikas disgusts me to no end.

"Everything should be done to find those responsible for the act of vandalism, and to uproot such phenomena," said Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Amen

[harrowup]

Kahane was a thug. For one Jew to deface a memorial to another Jew with a Swastika is beyond reprehensible. The perps should be exiled to Sinai.

[evad]

vandals painting swastikas

The swastica is the symbol for the trash that call themselves Palistinians.

[ChicagoHebrew]

Kahane was a thug.

No, Kahane was an incredibly intelligent, decent and honest man. He didn't hate Arabs-- he understood them better than anyone. Similarly, he understood the basic conflicts with being a Jewish and democratic state. I don't agree with everything he said, but he wasn't a thug.

His followers, however, are thugs. Kahane never would of approved of damaging a memorial, much less using Nazi images. I will say though that Israel bares a small responsibility for their thuggery-- it was Israel that banned Kach and denied Kahane his rightful place in the democratic, political system. When you deny nonviolent, democratic movements a chance to use democracy to advance their ideals-- there's always a chance they'll get disgruntled with democracy and turn violent. Similar to the pro-life movement in the U.S.

[anotherview]

Pity the far-right among Jewish Israelis have defaced anything they view as leftist with swastikas. Too easy to blame the Palestinians. I doubt they believe "Kahane was right".

[Norse]

You mean similar to the pro-death movement. If abortion is illegal, the murderers will attempt to kill their kids anyways, probably by leaving them in the dumpster or beating them to death. Pretty violent.

[BlackVeil]

During Rabin's lifetime, they often had pictures of him with the swastika painted on his arm.

The Israeli settlers in Hebron also use swastikas a lot. They paint them on the doors of Arab houses which are they are campainging to expropriate.

In fact, this symbol is thrown around so much in Israel that unsophisticated Palestinians often believe that the swastika is some sort of Zionist emblem of the settler movement.

[Tacis]

Won't they find that the Jews who painted the swatikas belong to the same factions as the Jew who murdered Rabin?

[xm177e2]

To deface the Rabin memorial with swastikas disgusts me to no end.

But what did Rabin really stand for? Endless concessions to terrorists who were carrying out a policy of genocide against Jews. Maybe he wasn't a Nazi, but he certainly was a Chamberlain.

[yonif]

All I can comment on this is that I will not jump to conclusions on who did this. One must remember that only a very small faction identifies with the Kach movement which is considered a terrorist group by the Israeli government. On the other hand, you know that there are 1.3Million Arab Israeli citizens. This can be any of these groups and the police is investigating.

[OldFriend]

Rabin's widow refused to shake Netanyahu's hand, blaming him for the death of her husband. She had lunch with Arafat instead.

Is this sanity?

[Libertina]

One of the most Orwellian flips of logic of the left is connecting Nazi symbols with Jews. Mind-boggling. It just goes to show that if you say things often enough people will believe it.

[Imal]

Rabin murderer Yigal Amir's mother, Geula, told radio reporters that the commemoration event was no more than a foreign custom, and that "if anyone wants to remember someone, they don't need public gatherings to do so."

I guess I can stop wondering why Yigal Amir turned out the way he did. Sheesh!

[Slings and Arrows]

All I can comment on this is that I will not jump to conclusions on who did this. One must remember that only a very small faction identifies with the Kach movement which is considered a terrorist group by the Israeli government. On the other hand, you know that there are 1.3Million Arab Israeli citizens. This can be any of these groups and the police is investigating.

I was thinking "Peace Now"-types. This smells like one of those college-campus "hate crimes" that turns out to have been perpetrated by the "victim." We shall see.

[harrowup]

Kahane/Kach is a terrorist operation and has no more legitimacy than the SLA had here in the USA. No matter what he knew, Kahane preached hate. The Zionist cause is one thing; IRA tactics another.

[ChicagoHebrew]

Kahane/Kach is a terrorist operation and has no more legitimacy than the SLA had here in the USA. No matter what he knew, Kahane preached hate. The Zionist cause is one thing; IRA tactics another.

Kach wasn't terrorist when Kahane was still alive. It was only after he died that they started engaging in violence-- which Kahane never advocated.

The SLA (South Lebanese Army) WAS an indigienous Christian organization. It just couldn't survive without Israeli support. But it was pretty damn legitimate, and refelcted the will of Lebanon's Christian population a lot more than Hezbollah or Syria. It also never attacked civilian targets, so I have trouble with you calling the SLA terrorist.

[harrowup]

I was speaking of the Symbionese Liberation Army, an old terrorist organization made popular by Patti Hearst. One of the problems with the war on terror is that we are still making moral judgements as to which thug we like. Hamas and Kahane/Kane...same mentality.

Seems to me that most of the Jews on FR should listen to their rabbi more closely.

[anotherview]

But what did Rabin really stand for? Endless concessions to terrorists who were carrying out a policy of genocide against Jews. Maybe he wasn't a Nazi, but he certainly was a Chamberlain.

What about Rabin the general? The war hero? What about the peace treaty with Jordan which has worked and required no territorial concessions>

At the time it really looked like peace could be achieved. Menachem Begin had traded land for peace. Nobody would compare him to Chamberlain. I would say the comparison with Rabin is also unfair. After all, no precise concessions on territory were offered by the Oslo accords. I doubt Rabin would have made the kind of offer to the Palestinians that Barak did. He certainly wouldn't have offered to divide Jerusalem.

I agree with Binyamin Netanyahu that Ehud Barak did Israel a favor by showing how the Palestinians and Arafat wouldn't accept Israel under any circumstances. Barak could not have done that favor without Rabin.

Besides, whatever your views of Prime Minister Rabin, positive or negative, they do not justify defacing his memorial.

[xm177e2]

Besides, whatever your views of Prime Minister Rabin, positive or negative, they do not justify defacing his memorial.

True enough.

But trading "land for peace" means you give land, and you get peace. Rabin never got peace, but he was willing to let Arafat keep control of the land. He gave it away for nothing in return, and wouldn't even admit that he was wrong to have done so.