On October 10th, in the framework of the World Day against the Death Penalty, a meeting was organised about the theme ‘Restorative justice: reconciliation and forgiveness as an alternative to break through the spiral of violence and revenge – which is also maintained by the death penalty.
At the heart of the meeting was the testimony of two special international guests: Rami Elhanan and Bassam Aramin, from the Parents Circle Families Forum, an organisation uniting Palestinian and Israeli parents who all lost children in the violence. They both lost their daughter: Smadar (14) was the victim of a Palestinian suicide terrorist, Abir (10) was the victim of an Israeli border guard. “Hating each other because of that, is useless. We suffer the same pain”, Rami and Bassam say. Their friendship is not something obvious, nor their message. “But we want to show that peace is possible.”
The evening, which was attended by over 200 people, was a common initiative of several organisations opposing the death penalty : Sant’Egidio, Within-Without Walls, Inside outside. |