[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 177 (Thursday, November 9, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S16918-S16919]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       THE DEATH OF YITZHAK RABIN

  Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, for centuries, the Middle East has been 
a region plagued with strife, a land where days of violence are often 
more common than moments of peace, and a place where tragedy is almost 
routine. This past weekend, when a young Jewish extremist assassinated 
the Prime Minister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin, he committed an act that 
managed to shock a region and a world that long ago became almost 
numbed to the seemingly eternal struggle between Jews and Arabs and the 
death and loss that animosity creates.
  By any standard, Yitzhak Rabin served his nation admirably. He was a 
patriot and a warrior who fought against the Axis powers during World 
War II, fought for the freedom of Israel, and fought against those who 
sought to destroy that nation in the years after its creation. He rose 
to high positions in the Israeli government, serving as Chief of Staff 
of the Army, Ambassador to the United States, Minister of Labor, 
Minister of Defense, and was in his second term as Prime Minister at 
the time of his death. Those accomplishments alone would have been more 
than sufficient to earn him the accolades of his fellow countrymen, but 
the journey he led his nation on for peace was one which justifiably 
earned him the gratitude of the world.
  It surely could not have been easy for a man who dedicated much of 
his life to defending his homeland to sit down with the man who had 
spent much of his life vowing to overthrow Israel. Nor could it have 
been easy for Yasir Arafat to sit down with a man who represented the 
government that the P.L.O. blamed for oppressing the Palestinian 
people. Yet, these two old adversaries recognized that the time for 
peace in the Middle East had arrived, and that it was necessary for 
them to set aside their differences and to forge an agreement that 
would allow their two peoples to co-exist. It was a courageous decision 
by both men, and one for which they were strongly criticized, but as 
Prime Minister Rabin pointed out, you do not have to make peace with 
your friends.
  I suppose that it is not surprising that a man who was a soldier, 
would die a violent death, but it is surprising that he would die at 
the hands of one of his own citizens, and it is perversely ironic that 
his death would come at a 

[[Page S 16919]]
peace rally. While the death of the Prime Minister is nothing less than 
a tragedy that people throughout the world deeply mourn, his passing is 
an event that must not stand as an obstacle to the peace process. 
Yitzhak Rabin was a man who was willing to give his life so that the 
Middle East would be a stable and peaceful land. It is a legacy that 
all would do well to try and honor.

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