The Ethics of Revenge
Excerpted from a speech made by Yitzhak Frankenthal, Chairman of the Families Forum, at a rally in Jerusalem on Saturday, July 27, 2002, outside
the Prime Minister's residence.
My beloved son Arik was murdered by Palestinians. My tall blue-eyed
golden-haired son who always smiled with the innocence of a child and the
understanding of an adult. My son.
My son Arik was born into a democracy with a chance for a decent, settled
life. Arik's killer was born into an appalling occupation, into an ethical
chaos. Had my son been born in his stead, he might have ended up doing the
same. Had I myself been born into the political and ethical chaos that is
the Palestinians' daily reality, I would certainly have tried to kill and
hurt the occupier; had I not, I would have betrayed my essence as a free
man. Let all the self-righteous who speak of ruthless Palestinian murderers
take a hard look in the mirror and ask themselves what they would have done
had they been the ones living under occupation. I can say for myself that I,
Yitzhak Frankenthal, would have undoubtedly become a freedom fighter and
would have killed as many on the other side as I possibly could. It is this
depraved hypocrisy that pushes the Palestinians to fight us relentlessly.
Our double standard allows us to boast the highest military ethics, while
the same military slays innocent children. This lack of ethics is bound to
corrupt us.
My son Arik was murdered when he was a soldier by Palestinian fighters who
believed in the ethical basis of their struggle against the occupation. My
son Arik was not murdered because he was Jewish, but because he is part of
the nation that occupies the territory of another.
I know these are concepts that are unpalatable, but I must voice them loud
and clear, because they come from my heart, the heart of a father whose son
did not get to live because his people were blinded with power. As much as I
would like to do so, I cannot say that the Palestinians are to blame for my
son's death. That would be the easy way out, but it is we, Israelis, who are
to blame because of the occupation.
The Palestinians cannot drive us away; they have long acknowledged our
existence. They have been ready to make peace with us; it is we who are
unwilling to make peace with them. It is we who insist on maintaining our
control over them; it is we who escalate the situation in the region and
feed the cycle of bloodshed. I regret to say it, but the blame is entirely
ours.
I do not mean to absolve the Palestinians, and by no means justify attacks
against Israeli civilians. No attack against civilians can be condoned. But
as an occupation force it is we who trample over human dignity, it is we who
crush the liberty of Palestinians, and it is we who push an entire nation to
crazy acts of despair. Finally, I call on my brothers and sisters in the
settlements: see what we have come to.
Back to Peace Talk Index, Autumn, 2002