Palestinian Ghazi Brigieth and Israeli Yitzhak Frankenthal spoke Monday about their experiences with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to an audience of students, faculty and community members. Although both Brigieth and Frankenthal have suffered family losses from the violence, the men remained optimistic that peace could be achieved.
Brigieth, a 41-year-old Palestinian Muslim and Hebron native, is a certified electrical technician and father of three. His 31-year-old brother was killed at an Israeli army checkpoint in November 2000 and his 14-year-old stepbrother was killed on his way home from school in Bethlehem in May 2001.
Frankenthal, a veteran of Israel's Yom Kippur War, is the father of five children and a self-described "Israeli patriot." His son Arik, then a 19-year old soldier, was abducted and killed by Hamas in 1994.
"Arik was murdered only because there was no peace between Israelis and Palestinians," Frankenthal said.
After his son's death, Frankenthal liquidated his business and created the Parents' Circle, an organization that connects bereaved Palestinian and Israeli families.
Offering their own perspectives on the situation, Frankenthal and Brigieth supported each other's similar opinions. Both men urged reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians.
"What Sharon's government is doing by keeping Arafat in one room is giving him more support--it's not the way to make peace," said Brigieth. "The solution to the violence is to get a real partnership for the peace process, with a real, encouraged leadership on both sides."
Frankenthal agreed that more could be done to pave the way towards an accord. "Sharon says he will bring security and peace, but what he's doing is not peace--it's piece by piece to the grave," he said. "The problem is Sharon and Arafat, but not 100 percent. It looks like they are leading us, but at a juncture when they have to make a decision, they look to the public."
While acknowledging that the history of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict plays a role in the current fighting, both men also agreed that looking to history is not a solution.
"For an answer, you can't go to the past," said Frankenthal. "If you go to the past, you will lose our present and our future. You need to find not a just peace, but a wise peace--a peace that Israeli and Palestinian societies are prepared to accept. The past will not bring us to the future."
Brigieth concurred. "I don't want to look at history because if I could go back I could get my brother back," he said.
Regardless of the current situation in the Middle East, both Frankenthal and Brigieth forsee and strive for a favorable, peaceful outcome.
While he said that his work for reconciliation is currently supported by only a minority on both sides, Brigieth believes that the peace will prevail.
"Sometimes, the minority wins," he said, offering the examples of Gandhi's insistence on peace in his campaign and the success of the Four Mothers, an Israeli grassroots movement that was a major force in persuading the Israeli government to withdraw from Lebanon.
Frankenthal is using Parents' Circle to unite grieving Israelis and Palestinians in hope of reaching harmony between the groups.
"The best anti-fear are the bereaved families," said Frankenthal. "They have lost people, but are not afraid of the enemy."
The speakers acknowledged that the only way peace is possible is through discussion between both parties.
"The best revenge if someone kills your loved one is what we are doing. It would be easy to go down to the street, to carry a gun, and to keep shooting. The real revenge is to bring your enemy to sit down and talk to him, and to try to understand," Brigieth said.
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