LETTER: Israeli prime minister will not be forgotten for his cause, courage

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by Gerald Falchook

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Last Saturday the world witnessed the tragic assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

We reacted with shock, anger, sadness and frustration.

Yitzhak Rabin was the greatest peacemaker of our time.

His achievements speak for themselves: two peace agreements with Israel's Palestinian neighbors, a peace treaty with Jordan, initiation of peace talks with Syria and the normalization of diplomatic relations with over 100 countries in the Arab world and elsewhere who had previously ostracized Israel from the international community.

I attended a memorial program here in Houston for Mr. Rabin on Sunday night.

I was moved not only by the size of the audience but also by the people there.

I saw rabbis and priests, Jews and non-Jews, blacks and whites, U.S. congressmen and even Mayor Bob Lanier.

All in attendance had been touched by the death of Yitzhak Rabin. All had come to pay their respects and mourn for a man whom they had come to respect and admire for his valiant efforts in the quest of peace.

Mr. Rabin knew that walking the road of peace was not the easiest one, nor the safest one. Yet he held the firm conviction that making peace with Israel's neighbors was the right thing to do.

Only 90 minutes before his murder, Mr. Rabin spoke the following words at a peace rally attended by over 100,000 Israelis in Tel Aviv: "I believe there is now a chance for peace, a great chance, and we must take advantage of it for those standing here and for those who are not here. I always believed that most people want peace and they are ready to take a risk for it."

Mr. Rabin took those risks, and he took them boldly, knowing that he put his life in danger.

He dared to defy political taboos; he boldly entered the unknown; he gently carried the olive branch of peace.

I salute you, Yitzhak Rabin. You were and shall always be a role model for all of us.

Gerald Falchook

SRC '97

This item appeared in the Opinion section of the November 10, 1995 issue.

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