Rabin Square

[Hakki Alacakaptan]

Yitzak Rabin's murder on November 4, 1995 was the abortive starting gun for
Likud's war. A few weeks after the assassination, it became clear that Yigal
Amir was no lone nut and that Israel's security services were involved in
the murder. The murder backfired on Likud and Barak, a Rabin protege won the
elections and celebrated his victory on Rabin Square. Sharon had to shelve
the war plans and circumscribe his efforts to sabotaging Oslo. When he
achieved the desired result, he raided the Haram al-Sharif, tantamount to a
declaration of war. It is now becoming clear for the rest of the world that
Sharon's war aims are open-ended and that Likud's murderous colonialism is
as unrestrained as was that of its erstwhile ally in apartheid, South
Africa.

Like South African whites, Israeli Jews are becoming increasingly polarized
and the anti-war minority increasingly vocal. The media, muzzled by censors
and ultrazionst capital (e.g. the once Labor-aligned Jerusalem Post has
become a Likud mouthpiece after having been acquired by Canadian David
Radler) has nevertheless begun to criticize Sharon and to cover peace
protests. The most resounding of recent antiwar events was the installation
of 1.398 coffins
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/p/nm/20020313/ts/mdf150104.html in Tel Aviv's
Rabin Square by The Parents' Circle, a group uniting bereaved parents of
Israeli Jewish war victims. The group has already staged the coffin
installation 4 times starting with 750 cofffins on September 11, 2001, when
they had to dissassemble the installation for obvious reasons of uncanny
synchronicity. The Parents' Circle is not secular and defends a tolerant
Judaism, which gives it more mainstream appeal.

This last coffin installation sparked a strong reaction from the settlers,
who invaded the square chanting "Israel wants war". Israel's polarization
has reached a point that is reminiscent of France during the Algerian war,
and settler violence aided by elements of the IDF, Shin Beth, etc., is
likely to target the anti-war movement in the future (in excess of the
present nonlethal attacks, that is).

The Parents' Circle has a unique FAQ on concrete ways of achieving a
peaceful settlement: http://theparentscircle.com/a&q.html  When you read it
you realise that as in South Africa, nothing is hopeless no matter how bad
the media paint it.

Hakki