The first place we stopped today was the plaza in Tel Aviv where Yitzhak Rabin spoke for the last time. His final words were about his hopes for peace in Israel following the signing of the Oslo Accords, the first agreement ever signed between Israel and Palestine. Moments later he was assassinated, by an extremist right wing Jew. In the days following the death of the man who had carried Israel’s hopes for peace, thousands of people met on the square where we were standing to light candles and sing songs about peace. Today, a monument commemorating Rabin and his efforts lies at the edge of the plaza.
Next we visited Independence Hall, where the state of Israel was declared, on May 14, 1948. Fearing that the British (who were exiting the country the same day) would try to prevent the formation of the new state, or that the Arabs (who had planned to attack as soon as the British exited) would invade early, the founders sent secret messages to the guests, requesting everyone arrive at 4 o’clock at Independence Hall but not specifying what for. The actual declaration of independence had been approved that morning, and the final draft was typed only hours before the ceremony. At precisely 3:59 the document arrived at Independence Hall and David Ben-Gurion, who would be the first Prime Minister, proclaimed the country to be an independent Jewish state, just in time before the Shabbos. The very next day five different Arab nations attacked, the beginning of conflicts which have still not been resolved today.
For dinner we drove to the nearby city of Jaffa, where I bargained with the flea market people and bought lots of pretty earrings and a scarf. And ran out of time for dinner.
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