Over the weekend, members of Rwandan community in Israel were joined by friends of Rwanda to mark the 24th commemoration of the Genocide against the Tutsi. The commemoration event, which took place at Kinneret Academic College in northern Israel, began by observing a two-minute moment of silence after which a recorded testimony and short movie about the Genocide against the Tutsi, titled Ubumuntu, was screened. The Rwandan envoy to Israel, Joseph Rutabana, told the audience of the systematic preparations that preceded the Genocide in which over a million people were killed. “It (Genocide) was, however, stopped by other Rwandans determined to open another chapter in our history and at the forefront, we had President Paul Kagame who was the commander of the Rwanda Patriotic Army,” he told mourners. The envoy said that the Genocide was as a result of seeds sawn by the colonial powers and later cemented by post-colonial genocidal regimes. “Our Government will never entertain any kind of discrimination against Rwandans, instead, we will continue the path of unity and reconciliation by promoting the Rwandan identity instead of looking at each other through ethnic or other divisive lenses,” he said. The event was also featured a performance of a song, titled “Twibuke Twiyubaka’’ by Rwandan students studying at Beit Oren, and a performance by students of Kinneret titled “I am Blameless”. The ceremony ended with lighting candles in remembrance of the victims. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
