UA Students, faculty hold service for Rabin

By Cheryl Fogle

Arizona Daily Wildcat

Members of the University of Arizona community held a memorial service for Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin yesterday afternoon in the Student Union's Senior Ballroom.

"The desire for peace is a stronger trait than murder," said Provost Paul Sypherd. "People of every race should work for peace and tolerance because we have one world and we are one people."

Leonard Dinnerstein, Director of Judaic Studies, said Rabin's death will not affect the Middle East peace process and that, if anything, it will go forward.

"Something good might come out of this tragedy," Dinnerstein said, "because it will damage the credibility of those who oppose negotiations with the Arabs."

"Rabin will be remembered for his work in three wars, but he will be remembered for his work for peace," said Emily Mallin, a psychology senior.

Mallin met Rabin several times when she studied at Hebrew University in Jerusalem last year.

"Sometimes I saw him at peace rallies like the one in Tel Aviv Saturday," Mallin said. "I met him at a Veterans Day ceremony in a cemetery where soldiers were buried, and he seemed like a kind man"

Rabin was assassinated Saturday night as he was leaving a Tel Aviv peace rally.

In 1993 he signed a peace treaty with the Palestinian Liberation Organization. This year he signed an interim agreement that gave the PLO control over West Bank territories formerly occupied by Israel.

Rabin fought in three wars against the Arabs, but after he was elected prime minister in 1992, he began peace negotiations with them. In 1994 he signed a peace treaty with Jordan.

Meanwhile, in Jerusalem yesterday, President Clinton bid farewell to Rabin, confident ''his spirit lives on,'' and urged the assassinated prime minister's followers and critics to curb their rhetoric or risk deeper rifts in this torn society.

Joining with Arab, European and Israeli leaders, Clinton eulogized Rabin at his burial as ''an inspiration'' who laid down his life to secure Israel's future by making peace with the Palestinians.

''Now it falls to all of us who love peace, and all of us who loved him, to carry on the struggle to which he gave his life,'' Clinton said in a raspy voice. He wound up the tribute reciting in flawless Hebrew the last words of the Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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