Yitzhak Rabin and Barack Obama

Yesterday at a rally when John McCain asked, "Who is Barack Obama?", a supporter shouted back, "Terrorist."

And at a rally led by Sarah Palin, when she mischaracterized a New York Times story as pointing to an alliance between Obama and Bill Ayers, someone screamed "Kill him."

Neither McCain nor Palin have actually advocated such actions or said that Obama himself is a "terrorist," but they and their campaign have certainly engaged in smear campaigns creating enough innuendos to cause an atmosphere where such rants would not be totally unexpected.

This eerily reminds me of the atmosphere before Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in Israel. Far-right Israelis had been engaging in a campaign of vilification against Rabin for months. Right-wing politicians had done nothing to discourage extreme incitement or death threats against Rabin. Posters filled the walls across Israel with horrifying statements and dehumanizing captions against Rabin. Extremist Rabbis said Rabin was betraying Jews and was cursed to death.

Then came Yigal Amir, the assassin who shot Yitzhak Rabin at point blank. When asked, he said he was inspired to kill Rabin to avenge the Jewish people and prevent him undermining Israel.

Suddenly after Rabin's chilling assassination, everyone was against dehumanization and incitement. Everyone had condemned such vitriol all along. Everyone loved Rabin, the martyr and hero. It was unclear how all those posters got posted on the walls, or who had made all those calls into radio stations with threats against Rabin.

Before Rabin's fate presages Obama's, McCain and Palin -- and in particularly Sarah Palin, whose hateful accusations earlier today were only little short of the more fanatical ones out there -- have the responsibility to draw the line and demand from their followers a civil discourse based on the issues, recognizing the patriotism of their counterpart, instead of raising suspicions about Obama's commitment to America, as Palin explicitly did throughout her rally earlier today.

If something happens to Obama, not only the McCain campaign but also all the "swift" teams and fear-mongering groups that are crossing the line will share in the responsibility for creating the environment that caused some fanatical follower to avenge the American people.

ADDENDUM: To be fair, this weekend McCain demonstrated leadership and responsibility in beginning to discourage irresponsible statements from his supporters:
See Better Late Than Never: http://blog.peaceworks.net/2008/10/better-late-than-never/
And this Youtube Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf6YKOkfFsE
Perhaps the Huffington Post carries more influence than we ever imagined... :-)

Comments

[mom2sons]

If something does happen to Obama, it will not be pretty in this country or the world. Think about it, Obama has given hope to millions of people around the world. Talk about revolution in the streets. I wouldn't want to see anything like that happen in this day and age to our country at all. So, let's just keep praying that God will keep his armour on this soldier of his. VOTE OBAMA-BIDEN 08! To tell you the truth, I can't wait until Nov. 5. Either we will have to hunker down even more, or we will be able to lift our heads in wonderment and joy, with hope in our hearts.

[DrCahill]

Let's all STOP this assassination NONESENSE and focus on what we need to do on November 4th! Don't lend any credence to the evil Republicam McCain-Palin spirit, who have realised that they have lost this election. To worry about their plots is to give them a boost. Barack Obama has your protection, my protection, secret service protection, and the greatest of all protections - the Almighty's. So FOCUS on what we need to do and NOT on useless worry!

[LALC]

You know, I've always felt the same way. My teen daughter & her friends like Sen. Obama, but they’ve expressed fears of assassination for months now (before his nomination). I told her that idea was silly.

Lately though, I’ve literally been getting “chills” when I read about or see these incidents on TV. Admittedly, it’s beginning to get scary, I can’t help it. There’s way too much anger!

[sociocanuck]

Maybe a giant fence or wall should be set up around the perimeter of Republican America, never mind the border with Mexico...

[mommamia526]

A word once launched can never be recalled. Smears and inuendo soil the speaker as well as those who must listen to it. In the case of a national election campaign it lowers not only the speakers of this slander, to keep with the Israeli theme, l'shon hara, but the whole nation. It lowers what the world thinks of us. It shames even those of other countries who hear this. Slander is equated with murder. So, those who think that they are attacking a person, calling him or her a terrorist, without any proof, or base, are themselves the terrorists. Terrorists blow themselves up and do this to blow up innocents. Let us all think about this, clearly. Namecalling, labels and slander are not arguments. They have no place in discourse in polite society. They certainly do not ease the dire situation this nation is in. It is not done in civil society, and if we continue to hear this, without giving McCain and his associates and fellow *prisoners* of their own making a clear response each time, he will not be able to stop. I suggest that Obama puts a clear answer to all of McCain's *questions* on his website, and we all refer to the website, and then tell McCain that he is dragging this nation through the mud. That is unpatriotic at a minimum.

[mommamia526]

I understand that Obama and Ayers were on the Annenberg Project Board. Yes, man, is that EVER a *terris* organization! I mean, education and all that. Elite! Harvard too? Who do they think we be? Do they think we are stupid? We have a tradition here of education, yes, maybe, but then scoring last in your class, and not being brainy and all that geekstuff! Some men, in their youth, and even beyond, are a little oppositional. I understand that McCain had his share of that being oppositional. Even wrecked a couple of planes being ornery. As a matter of fact, he is still at it, calls it *Maverick*. I hear it every day: McCain is a *Maverick*. I do not know what that means, exactly, but it certainly is not normal run of the mill brainy. So, was Ayers a war protester? Did not like a specific war, did he? But he changed over time, behaved himself and is now a professor. Never Mind. This is a christian nation and we do not do no forgiving. Once oppositional, always oppositional. Oh, well. And who in the world watches that blond highlight girl. Look at her. Is she pulling her hair out? What is up with her? As if being called a *bananarepublic* is too high a standing the GOP keeps degrading this nation and themselves. How low can you go?

[JLee]

I still remember Rabin's death back when I was in junior high school. If something happens to Obama (God please no), that should be the end of McCain and Palin's political careers and they should never be able to show their faces in polite society (I don't count ultra right-wingers as polite society) again.

[ajax2]

AFP,
"no Secret Service agent overheard any threatening statement and no threatening statements were reported by law enforcement or the general public."

"We did make some inquiries after the Washington Post reported on Tuesday that a someone had yelled 'kill him,'" he added.

Donovan said it wasn't clear whether the threat was actually vocalized or, if so, if it was meant for Obama or even Ayers, both of whose names were uttered by Palin at that moment in her speech.

For those reasons, he added, the investigation was dropped."

[Gidster]

It is almost impossible to assess threat or intent from a single screamed word.

Sad but true, he was exercising his 1st amendment rights. Also his God given right to be and remain ignorant.

[ajax2]

"Kill him" is NOT a first amendment right.

[Whatashame]

This is really scary stuff and I pray that Obama is wearing a bullet proof vest and he should start wearing hellmets.

[yesshespeaks]

In a perfect world... yes we shouldn't have to talk about a possible connection between Obama and Rabin and the possibility that Obama might meet the same fate as Rabin. In a perfect world, Hillary Clinton never should have made those "loaded" comments about Bobby Kennedy. In a perfect world, an opposing candidate and his running mate would not stand idly by as followers say such hateful things. I cannot find the words to express my disgust that this subject must talked about at all. We shouldn't have to worry whether or not our President is going to be assassinated! In fact, I know people who WANT to vote for him but are scared to because they think that is what will happen to him. Barack Obama has worked his butt off to get where he is right now. He's had tons of good help from all of us too. Why? Because he is inspiring us to hope again. He's appealing to our better natures. He's challenging us to be more than we are, better than we are. He's not pandering to our fears. He sees America as it is AND how it should be. He never has been and never will be a fearmonger. Let us keep sowing some hope and keep working together for the changes we need!

Proudly voting for "That One"'08!

[Gidster]

Hopefully McCain will be before the Senate ethics committee for his slander of a sitting US Senator.

[Twentylaws]

It is shameful for one sitting Senator to cause another sitting Senator to defend himself from attacks of being a terrorists! If McCain actually gets in Obama's face, finger-waging, calling him a "Terrorists" during the last Presidential Debate, Obama should not only defend himself to the world audience on stage but also in the courtroom with a case against McCain for such libel attacks!

Obama/Biden 08

[mcantwell]

I agree, McCain and Palin should be held accountable for their silence.

[firewmn]

they will be..Nov..5­th
*

[SadButWiser]

You know what, this time, what happened to Rabin could happen to Obama. Watching some of the rallies of Palin and McCain convinces me even more.

[abigail1]

please don't even say things like this. I can't take it.

[obama4eva]

i know....th­ere would be riots and protests like uve never seen...ple­ase God, protect Obama and his family. Did anyone else see the video on this site, from Ohio and PA. Thats scary, and I dont live too far from Lehigh Valley....­.

[arthur2008]

Their silence speaks volumes.

[4fathers]

what's worse is that the same fervor that lead to the murder of rabin has now taken a new strangle-hold (pun intended) with the extreme right-wing settler movement. their targets, it seems, are no longer politicians, but israeli citizens who disagree with their politics.