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Israel, Rwanda build ties on shared experiences of genocide

Twenty years after the Rwandan genocide, Israel and Rwanda's relations reflect the changes each nation has undergone, with Rwanda taking after Israel in dealing with a genocide and building a promising future.
Preserved human skulls are seen on display at the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre, as the country prepares to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the 1994 genocide in the Rwandan capital Kigali April 5, 2014. An estimated 800,000 people were killed in 100 days during this genocide.  REUTERS/Noor Khamis (RWANDA - Tags: ANNIVERSARY CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTR3K1VK
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Beylanesh Zevadia returned on April 6 to Kigali, Rwanda's capital. The young ambassador visits Kigali every two or three months, since as part of her role as the head of Israel’s mission in Ethiopia, she also serves as the nonresident ambassador to Rwanda. This time, Zevadia came to the land of “a thousand hills” to participate in the main memorial service marking 20 years since the genocide.

Zevadia first arrived in Rwanda two years ago, to give her writ of appointment to the president, Paul Kagame. Since then, she has attended to the sensitive and unique relationship between the two nations. This bilateral relationship, says Zevadia, enables Israel and Rwanda to share with each other their practical experience in taking confidence-building steps and reconciliation efforts, such as at the UN conference that was held in Addis Ababa in February to mark the genocide. An Israeli delegation took part in the conference. Another example is a series of workshops held a few years ago at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, with the participation of survivors of the genocide in Rwanda. 

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