Page 19 - Issue 8

when democratic means don’t suit them, as occurred with Rabin. The existence of a democratic society does
not primarily depend on whether its citizens vote in elections. While this is important, true democracy is
created by the citizens participating in the democracy in their daily lives – their adherence to democratic
principles in the way they express discontent and bring about change. The cornerstone of youth movement is
rebellion, rebellion towards a better future; our lives depend on our ability to create change for a better
future in a democratic manner.

Dichter: Prof attack takes us back to days of Rabin assassination
By Shahar Ilan and Roni Singer-Heruti – Haaretz, 26 Sept, 2008

Public Security Minister Avi Dichter joined senior political officials on Thursday in condemning a pipe bomb
attack on the home of left-wing activist and Haaretz columnist Professor Ze'ev Sternhell, saying that the
incident called to mind the days of the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin. Dichter described the
event, which left Sternhell lightly wounded, an "assassination attempt" and a "nationalistic terror attack
perpetrated, in all likelihood, by Jews, which pushes our society many years backward." Speaking at a police
ceremony in Netanya, Dichter added that "the pipe bomb that was planted yesterday should be viewed as a
bomb meant to kill. The law enforcement authorities will not rest until the terrorists are put where they
belong – in prison."

Police suspect Jewish extremists of having carried out the pipe bomb attack earlier in the day. Sternhell
walked out of his home in a quiet Jerusalem neighborhood shortly after midnight to shut a courtyard gate
when the bomb went off, lightly wounding him in one of his legs, Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-
Ruby said. "We believe the background is ideological," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

Sternhell, an internationally renowned expert on the history of fascism, was awarded the country's highest
honor, the Israel Prize, earlier this year. The award drew fire from West Bank settlers and their supporters,
who unsuccessfully petitioned Israel's Supreme Court to try to block it. Sternhell himself spoke from his
hospital bed at Jerusalem's Shaarei Tzedek hospital Thursday evening, warning that "if this act was not
committed by a deranged person but by someone who represents a political view, then this is the beginning of
the disintegration of democracy." "The very occurrence of the incident goes to illustrate the fragility of
Israeli democracy, and the urgent need to defend it with determination and resolve," he added. "On the
personal level," he went on to say, "if the intent was to terrorize, it has to be very clear that I am not easily
intimidated; but the perpetrators tried to hurt not only me, but each and every one of my family members
who could have opened the door, and for that there is no absolution and no forgiveness."

Meanwhile Thursday, Kadima leader and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni condemned the attack saying that the
incident was "intolerable, and cannot be glossed over." At a ceremony marking the Rosh Hashanah holiday at
the Foreign Ministry, Livni went on to say that "the state of Israel is a lawful state, and moreover, it is
populated by a society with values. It is the responsibility of the government and the Israeli society to
renounce such phenomena as soon as the rear their heads."

Earlier Thursday, Jerusalem police said they found fliers offering more than NIS 1 million to anyone who kills
members of left-wing human rights organization Peace Now at Sternhell's home following the blast.
Investigators said a number of such pamphlets were found outside the home and in adjacent streets. In the
wake of the attack and the discovery of the fliers, police have beefed up security around the home of Peace
Now secretary-general Yariv Oppenheimer.

Senior political figures also expressed outrage at the news of the attack on Sternhell, which has touched a
nerve given the country's sensitive history of politically-oriented violence. "We are returning to the dark
spectacle of pipe bombs that are aimed at people, in this case against a very gifted person who never
shies away from expressing his opinion," Defense Minister Ehud Barak said. "We won't let any