Resources for Teachers and Students on Leah Rabin
Prepare: After her husband's assassination in 1995,
Leah Rabin took a lead role in campaigning for the Middle-East
peace process that he had championed. She died of lung cancer
five years later, and her obituary
can be read on the BBC News website.
Read:
Leah Rabin's short Architects
of Peace essay is excerpted from a speech she gave at
Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
The full
speech can be read at on the "Gifts of Speech"
website at Sweet Briar College. (The "Gifts of Speech"
program celebrates women's speeches from around the world.)
Explore: The
Yitzhak Rabin Center for Israel Studies, located
near Tel Aviv University, sponsors a number of educational
projects to promote Rabin's vision of peace in the Middle
East. The center's website also contains biographical material
on Rabin's life, especially regarding his leadership within
the Yishuv, the pre-state Jewish community in Palestine.
Write: Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated
in the central square of Tel Aviv during a mass public rally
around the theme, "Yes to Peace-No to Violence."
The irony that such a violent act took place at a rally
designed to curtail violence has led many to reflect on
the extent of legitimate political protest. At what point
does political dissent cease to be moral? Is violence ever
justified as a means of political resistance? What are the
differences in the effects of using violence or nonviolence
to bring about social change? Write a three-to-five page
reflection on the relationship between violence and social
change.
Extend: Leah Rabin gave an interview to CNN the
day after her husband was buried. During the interview,
she urged her fellow Israelis to speak out for peace, and
discussed her concerns with the atmosphere of "religious
extremism" that she felt led to her husband's death.
The interview
can watched as a streaming video or read as a transcript.
Additional Resource: Yitzhak Rabin was awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize in 1994, sharing the award not only with
PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, but also with Israili politician
Shimon Peres. Information on the 1994
awards can be found on the Nobel site.
Biography of Leah
Rabin