NEWS Garden in Milan Named after Yitzhak Rabin

By Daniel Reichel

Since last week, Milan has a special place dedicated to the former Prime Minister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin. On May 3, the city inaugurated the Yitzhak Rabin Garden, situated in Tripoli Square. “Israeli statesman and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994,” reads the plaque.

“Rabin is a central figure of the last century. I hope this plaque will inspire people to study who Rabin was and what he did. He played an important and positive role in the destinies of the world,” said Milan City Council member Filippo Del Corno, speaking shortly after the unveiling of the plaque. The initiative was an idea of the Sinistra per Israele (The Left for Israel) group and was presented during the ceremony organized at Palazzo Marino, Milan’s City Hall, on the 20th anniversary of the assassination of Rabin.

“I thank the City of Milan for having positively responded to this proposal, said City Council member, Ruggero Gabbai. Looking at the Middle East now, we can say more than ever that we needed a statesman like Rabin. Unfortunately he was killed, but his message has not died and it’s up to us to carry it forward.”

“Israeli society was able to respond with force to the baseless hatred that poured over Rabin, remaining steadfast in its democratic institutions, protecting freedom and pluralism,” said a spokesperson of the Israeli embassy, Amit Zarrouk.

The lesson that Rabin gave us, concluded Zarrouk, is that we must be able to take risks if we want to achieve peace.

Present at the event, among others were an official of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, Giorgio Mortara, the president of the Jewish Community of Milan, Milo Hasbani, together with Daniele Misrachi, Gadi Schoenheit and Claudia Terracina.