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 -------- Original Message -------- Date: Thu, 01 Aug 2002 01:42:56 -0400
Subject: The Ethics of Revenge
Date: Thu, 01 Aug 2002 01:42:56 -0400
To: You :
The ethics of revenge--by a father who lost his son to terror

A speech made by Yitzhak Frankenthal, Chairman of the Families
 Forum, at a rally in Jerusalem on Saturday, July 27, 2002, outside
 the Prime Ministerís residence.


My beloved son Arik, my own flesh and blood, was murdered by
 Palestinians. My tall blue-eyed golden-haired son who was always
 smiling with the innocence of a child and the understanding of an
 adult. My son. If to hit his killers, innocent Palestinian children and
 other civilians would have to be killed, I would ask the security
forces to wait for another opportunity. If the security forces were to
 kill innocent Palestinians as well, I would tell them they were no
 better than my sonís killers.


My beloved son Arik was murdered by a Palestinian. Should the
security forces have information of this murdererís whereabouts,
 and should it turn out that he was surrounded by innocent children
 and other Palestinian civilians, then ñ even if the security forces
knew that the killer was planning another murderous attack that was
 to be launched within hours and they now had the choice of curbing
a terror attack that would kill innocent Israeli civilians but at the cost
 of hitting innocent Palestinians, I would tell the security forces not to
 seek revenge but to try to avoid and prevent the death of innocent
civilians, be they Israelis or Palestinians.


I would rather have the finger that pushes the trigger or the button
that drops the bomb tremble before it kills my sonís murderer, than
 for innocent civilians to be killed. I would say to the security forces:
 do not kill the killer. Rather, bring him before an Israeli court. You
are not the judiciary. Your only motivation should not be vengeance,
 but the prevention of any injury to innocent civilians.


Ethics are not black and white ñ they are all white. Ethics have to be
 free of vengefulness and rashness. Every act must be carefully
 weighed before a decision is made to see whether it meets the
strict ethical criteria. Ethics cannot be left to the discretion of anyone
 who is frivolous or trigger-happy. Our ethics are hanging by a thread,
 at the mercy of every soldier and politician. I am not at all sure that
I
am willing to delegate my ethics to them.


It is unethical to kill innocent Israeli or Palestinian women and
children. It is also unethical to control another nation and to lead it to
 lose its humaneness. It is patently unethical to drop a bomb that kills
 innocent Palestinians. It is blatantly unethical to wreak vengeance
 upon innocent bystanders. It is, on the other hand, supremely ethical
 to prevent the death of any human being. But if such prevention
causes the futile death of others, the ethical foundation for such
 prevention is lost.


A nation that cannot draw the line is doomed to eventually apply
unethical measures against its own people. The worst in my mind is
 not what has already happened but what I am sure one day will.
And it will ñ because ethics are now being twisted and the political
and military leadership does not even have the most basic integrity
to say: ìwe are sorryî.


We lost sight of our ethics long before the suicide bombings. The
 breaking point was when we started to control another nation.
My son Arik was born into a democracy with a chance for a decent,
settled life. Arikís killer was born into an appalling occupation, into
 an ethical chaos. Had my son been born in his stead, he may have
 ended up doing the same. Had I myself been born into the political
and ethical chaos that is the Palestiniansí 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 that 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 ñ 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 sonís death. That would be
the easy way out, but it is we, Israelis, who are to blame because of
the occupation. Anyone who refuses to heed this awful truth will
eventually lead to our destruction.


The Palestinians cannot drive us away ñ they have long ac
knowledged 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 ñ see
what we have come to.

The Tikkun Community is working in the US to bring this kind
of a message into the public arena.  Here is how:

1. We are creating local Tikkun Communiies in each region. Can
you help us create one in your area?  Contact us and we will
help. Marisa@tikkun.org

2. We are creating a national Tikkun Campus Network  for each
college and university. Founding conference: Oct 11-14, NYC at
John Jay College and Stephen Wise Free Synagogue. If you
know any college students or professors, tell them about it.
Speakers include Rabbi Michael Lerner, Cornel West, and
Susannah Heschel. More info: marisa@tikkun.org

3. We are organizing a daily media critique--to insist that the
media give voice to the kinds of perspectives articulated above.
To help us: media@tikkun.org


4. We are organizing a national Teach-In to Congress. We need
people to come to Washington, D.C. from every Congressional
district in the U.S.--and we are giving you plenty of advance notice
to plan to be there. It will be April 27-29, 2003.  Come and bring
your friends--it's one way to get this perspective into public discourse

.
5. To make all the above happen, we need your help. Please
JOIN the Tikkun Community (membership: $120/yr for incomes
over $80k/yr, $80 for incomes $35k-$80k/yr;  $40 for incomes
under $35k/yr and students..  Or, if you don't want to join,
just send us a tax-deductible contribution. We can't do this
without your support--your agreement with the perspective
feels good, but we actually need your involvement in some
very concrete ways.  Send the money to Tikkun Community,
2107 Van Ness Ave, Suite 302, S.F., Ca. 94109.

6. Please go to our website at least
 once a week and read through what
is up there. www.tikkun.org  
 Particularly check our Calendar, our Current Thinking,
 our Media Critique, and our Current Projects of The
 Tikkun Community.

Here is the reality: we are five people putting out the magazine
and trying to build this movement. We need your help. Can
you contribute your skills in some way? Will you call media
on our behalf? Can you design a brochure or an ad for us
so that it looks elegant?  Do you have web-design skills and
can you work in cold fusion?  Could you come to SF and
volunteer at our office?  Could you help us do mailings or
phone call solicitations for donations or leaflet in your area?
Can you invite people over to your home and show a video
that we are preparing that presents a balanced view of the
Middle East?  Can you lead a study group around the new
book by Michael Lerner  Healing Israel/Palestine that should
be available in October (free to members, $12 for Tikkun
subscribers, $15 for others)?  Want to help in some way?
Contact Liat at 415 575 1200 or email community@tikkun.org
++++++++++++++++++
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