Remembering Yitzhak Rabin

In "Battle for the Planet of the Apes," we witness the political assassination of one talking gorilla by another. Shocked simians chanted "Ape Killed Ape!"

We bemoan the Farrakhans and Klansmen who speak of "The Jews," but have no hesitation speaking of "The Palestinians," "The Arabs" and "The Muslims." The definite article "the" here functions to obfuscate the real humanity and diversity beneath the politicized typology.

Many Jews were Zionists because they wanted to create an egalitarian socialist society in the land of their forefathers. As a labor Zionist, Rabin subscribed to ideas of eternal anti-Semitism — that anti-Semitism is an enduring irrational element of the modern world, necessitating a strong and independent Jewish homeland. The reality of violent anti-Semitism in Europe led many to the land of Israel. History, however, doesn't move in a straight, progressive line towards either a rationally ordered society or a withering away of religion.

Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli prime minister who began the peace process with the Palestinian people, was gunned down by an orthodox right-wing assassin ten years ago this month. At the time, Jews were shocked that we could kill "one of our own."

Yet, it is a chauvinist illusion to think that Israel was somehow free of internecine violence, that Jews never do violence to one another, and that only a Palestinian or an anti-Semite could conceivably kill an Israeli prime minister. In reality, the history of Israel has been punctuated by flareups of physical violence between the left and the right, the secular and the religious. When I lived in Israel, the gender-mixed prayer group I attended at the Western Wall was routinely attacked by young ultra-orthodox men throwing bottles, diapers and insults as we prayed. At points in Israel's history, orthodox men have rioted over perceived violations of religious law; orthodox children routinely throw rocks at cars driving on the Sabbath.

Some fret that once peace is actually achieved with the Palestinians, we will witness an Israeli civil war between the secular Jewish majority and the ever-growing orthodox minority. I recall one raucous weekend in 1998 when both the ultra-orthodox and the secular citizens of Jerusalem held angry rallies. The orthodox rallied in huge numbers against the findings of an Israeli court that had jailed a religious politician on corruption charges. Their defiance was widely perceived as an affront to the authority of Israel's secular institutions, and many Israelis rallied against the orthodox, defending the institutions of the state. At that time, most ultra-orthodox men were exempted from military service, to the chagrin of secular Israelis. In contrast, the "National" orthodox, those Jews with beards and Uzis who do serve in the Israeli armed forces, make up the active element in the settler movement — a movement that sees itself as divinely mandated to "redeem" Palestinian land and, these are their words, "Judanize" it. To give up land for peace was and is widely perceived by them as a traitorous act. It was from their ranks that Rabin's assassin, Yigdal Amir, emerged.

This year, prime minister Ariel Sharon, the right-wing father of the settler movement, received death threats from far-right and far-religious Israelis, outraged and betrayed over his coordination of Israel's withdrawal from occupied Gaza. Though we on the left are still suspicious of his motives, Sharon's removal of the Gaza settlers was a welcome first step on what we should hope is the end of the Occupation of the Palestinian people.

Ironically, Yitzhak Rabin emerged from a socialist culture that acknowledged that history moved forward through struggle and violent conflict between classes. The struggle of the oppressed, socialists believe, will lead to the creation of a just society. For Labor Zionists, this meant creating an egalitarian society in the historic land of Israel. Some of us still believe in that dream, but it's been plagued by the ugly reality of Middle East politics. What has most hampered working for peace and justice has been, sad to say, the American Jewish community. There is an unspoken sense that we ought not to speak out too loudly about the insane settlement policies of the government, the treatment of non-Jews in Israel and the reprehensible occupation of millions of Palestinians. We who do speak out, do so with a heavy heart. We have been chastised and accused of disloyalty, some even treated as pariahs in our own community. In essence, the definition of what it means to be "pro-Israel" has been hijacked to mean "pro-government policy." Public criticism of Israel is dissuaded, seen as ammunition for "our enemies."

Tonight, Yossi Klien Halevi is speaking for a Rabin memorial lecture. As a teenager, Halevi was a member of the violently anti-Arab and anti-Black movement, the Jewish Defense League. Halevi has since become a political moderate, not a Labor Peacenik like myself, but a decent fellow who writes for the once-liberal New Republic. Halevi is being brought by PIPAC, ostensibly the Israel lobby on campus. But the event is also being supported by progressive groups like the Union of Progressive Zionists. This ten-year anniversary, I think, is a good time to start the cooperation in the interest of peace and justice for all Israelis and Palestinians. Elliot Ratzman is a graduate student in the Department of Religion. He can be reached at eratzman@princeton.edu.