10 May 2004
My son Arik was murdered when he was a soldier by Palestinian fighters. He 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.
-- Yitzhak Frankenthal, I Would Have Done The Same.
(Nineteen-year-old Arik Frankenthal, an IDF soldier and an Orthodox Jew, was kidnapped and murdered by Hamas while hitchhiking home on leave in 1994. His father, Yitzhak, founded The Parents Circle, an organization of bereaved parents who have lost their children in the violence between Palestinians and Israelis. The Parents Circle now numbers about 250 Israeli and 200 Palestinian families, and advocates peace and coexistence through the promotion of tolerance and compromise).
