Hagai Amir and Israeli Forgetfulness

Sometimes we have memories like elephants supposedly have, especially when it comes to remembering the harm that was done to us.

Other times, our memories 'disappear' especially when we want to forget the harm we caused someone else in the past:

And then there are the special guys, like Hagai Amir, who helped conspire with his brother, Yigal Amir, to assassinate Israeli Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin in 1995. He appears all too happy to remember what he did, to be proud of what he did, and to help reinforce this memory of 'the good ole days' with other friends and family members.


Unfortunately, it appears that most of the Israeli public may have forgotten, or chosen to forget that violence leads to more violence, and that one of their Prime Minister's was murdered, for attempting to move past the 'solution' of violence to a better solution of peace with our neighbors.

No, his plan was far from perfect, and yes, it was going to take a lot more paradigmatic shifts on our part to actually do what needed to be done to attain peace with the Palestinians (such as really ending the Occupation, really pulling out settlements, really ending the oppression), but at least he was trying. And for that, he was killed.

This is not a nice memory.
No nostalgia here.

Perhaps if we could let go of all those constant annoying reminders from Rabin's family, and a few peace groups and activists, we, too, could keep our memories attuned only to the 'good ole' days'.

Many Israelis, it appears, would really like us to stop the nagging about remembering what happened on November 4th, 1995, and Hagai Amir's role in the assassination.

Hagai - continue to enjoy! Most Israelis 'forgot' what you did, and won't be bothering you.
Other Israelis are all too happy to remember and to rejoice with you!
And who knows? Perhaps Yigal will soon be out, and the two of you can continue to play together.

Who will be your next 'bad guy'?

No worries, s/he will soon be forgotten.

Isn't amnesia grand?