In memoriam Naftali Fraenkel, Gil-Ad Shaer, and Eyal Yifrach, recently kidnaped and murdered by Arabs while en route home from their yeshivot.
In memoriam Mohammed Abu Khdeir, kidnaped and apparently burned alive, apparently by Jews, on the day of the funeral of the “3 boys.”
Once it was publicized that the 3 were dead, calls for vengeance (such as "Israel demands vengeance") were made in public in Israel and on social media (see http://www.timesofisrael.com/facebook-campaign-calls-for-vengeance-against-arabs/).
In such an environment, enraged individuals are more likely to feel that a sizable portion of the people stands with them and hence more likely to mete out what they may understand to be vigilante justice. Incitement to violence encourages violence. (It seems that even the traditional refrain added when mentioning Jewish victims of hatred directed by non-Jews is unhelpful in this environment. We would do well to refer to the 3 boys with the traditional ‘aleihem ha-shalom,’ peace be upon them.)
Those who love peace should publicly reject calls for vengeance in order to marginalize those calls. Let us follow the beautiful example of the 'moment of loving kindness' campaign (July 4, 2014) of the families of the 3. The value of life-affirming acts of kindness should inspire and motivate us.
Of course, those involved in the execution of justice and the protection of people and country must carry out those duties.
שאלו שלום ירושלים, ישליו אוהביך
Seek the peace of Jerusalem; may those who love you be at peace (Psalms 122:6)