"Lift your eyes with hope, not through the rifles' sights; sing a song for love, and not for wars," chorused tens of thousands of Israelis at a rally Saturday night commemorating assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
Men and women, old and young, who congregated at and around the Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, the site of the notorious crime, many with tears in the eyes, sang along as Israeli singer Miri Aloni performed the Song for Peace, a song calling for an end to violence, a song soaked with the late premier's blood.
Thirteen years ago, on the night of Nov. 4, the general-turned political leader joined Aloni on the same stage in singing the song, after he told the thousands of Israelis gathered at the same square for a peace rally that "this government... decided to give peace a chance, a peace that will solve most of Israel's problems."
"The path of peace is preferable to the path of war... For them (Israeli soldiers), for our children, in my case for our grandchildren, I want this government to exhaust every opening, every possibility, to promote and achieve a comprehensive peace," declared the Labor Party chief earlier that night.
Yet in a manner shocking the whole nation, the singing became Rabin's last public voice. On the way to his car, the then 73-year- old leader was gunned down by a far-right extremist who vehemently opposed Rabin's signing of the historic Oslo Accords in1993, which created the Palestinian National Authority and granted it partial control over parts of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
"You, Yitzhak, the torchbearer, were murdered, but the flame has not died. Your dream will triumph. We are here to carry the hope until it materializes," Defense Minister Ehud Barak, the current Labor chairman, told the mournful crowd against the backdrop of a large head portrait of Rabin and a striking slug "13Years after the Murder."
Prior to Barak, President Shimon Peres, Rabin's top diplomat back then, who sang together with Rabin that night and was just a few steps away when the incident happened, also appeared at the stage, which was decorated with a large streamer saying "Yes to Peace, No to Violence."
"Yitzhak, you are missed, but your way has not been lost," said the 85-year-old political veteran, who shared the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize with Rabin and late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for their contributions to the Oslo Accords. "Peace is closer than we think, and we should make every effort in his memory to complete it."
Men and women, old and young, who congregated at and around the Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, the site of the notorious crime, many with tears in the eyes, sang along as Israeli singer Miri Aloni performed the Song for Peace, a song calling for an end to violence, a song soaked with the late premier's blood.
Thirteen years ago, on the night of Nov. 4, the general-turned political leader joined Aloni on the same stage in singing the song, after he told the thousands of Israelis gathered at the same square for a peace rally that "this government... decided to give peace a chance, a peace that will solve most of Israel's problems."
"The path of peace is preferable to the path of war... For them (Israeli soldiers), for our children, in my case for our grandchildren, I want this government to exhaust every opening, every possibility, to promote and achieve a comprehensive peace," declared the Labor Party chief earlier that night.
Yet in a manner shocking the whole nation, the singing became Rabin's last public voice. On the way to his car, the then 73-year- old leader was gunned down by a far-right extremist who vehemently opposed Rabin's signing of the historic Oslo Accords in1993, which created the Palestinian National Authority and granted it partial control over parts of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
"You, Yitzhak, the torchbearer, were murdered, but the flame has not died. Your dream will triumph. We are here to carry the hope until it materializes," Defense Minister Ehud Barak, the current Labor chairman, told the mournful crowd against the backdrop of a large head portrait of Rabin and a striking slug "13Years after the Murder."
Prior to Barak, President Shimon Peres, Rabin's top diplomat back then, who sang together with Rabin that night and was just a few steps away when the incident happened, also appeared at the stage, which was decorated with a large streamer saying "Yes to Peace, No to Violence."
"Yitzhak, you are missed, but your way has not been lost," said the 85-year-old political veteran, who shared the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize with Rabin and late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for their contributions to the Oslo Accords. "Peace is closer than we think, and we should make every effort in his memory to complete it."
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