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Last year's rally. Sinking numbers
Photo: Yaron Brener
Political message has been lost
Photo: AP

Will this year's Rabin memorial rally be the last?

Ynet learns that committee organizing customary rally in memorial of slain prime minister announced that ceremony will not be held in same capacity next year due to lack of interest, eclipsed political message

I will remember you always? Fifteen years have passed since the assassination of late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in Tel Aviv, and Ynet learned that the committee organizing the annual memorial rally in Rabin Square has announced that this year will be the last of its kind.

 

Officials involved in the discussions confirmed this to be true.

 

Within the framework of the preparations for the memorial rally scheduled for October 30, the option was weighed for this year to be the last official mass rally in memory of the slain Israeli leader. In the recent meetings, no small number of reasons were raised as to why the rallies should be discontinued, but the matter has yet to be voted on.


Peres speaking at last year's rally (Photo: Yaron Brener)

 

The idea was raised, and not the first time, because the event in its current format, including speeches and performances, has run its course according to the organizers, and, therefore, a new way must be found to mark the anniversary of Rabin's death. In the past, various organizers expressed their concern over the dwindling number of participants in the rally, making it difficult to organize the rally and fill the square respectably.

 

The fact that this year is the 15th anniversary since Rabin's assassination on November 4, 1995 brought the organizers to consider seriously announcing that the upcoming rally will be the last, 15 years seeming like a fitting number at which to end the productions.

 

The rally, the organizers said, has become an event lacking any message because the organizers have made it into a national event for the general public, and thus, its political statement has been lost.

 

The Rabin family also brought up the option in the past. The family's response was not obtained by the publication of this article.

 

The committee is considering the option of replacing the rally with educational activities to bolster democracy that will take place in more limited forums and will be directed towards different demographics.

 

The committee operates under the auspices of the Rabin Organization, a private body of a political nature that is not associates with the Rabin Center, which is a government body that receives State funding.

 

Last year's rally was delayed by one week do to inclement weather. Just 25,000 people attended the event. "It hasn't been forgotten. People are just busy with other things," explained one of the participants. However, even the television ratings for the live broadcast of the even on Channel 1 were low.

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 10.04.10, 09:23
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