Sarah Milgrim & the Third Narrative

                                                           Sarah Milgrim & Yaron Lischinsky

Concerning Retaliation

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’  But I say to you: Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also, and if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, give your coat as well, and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile.  Give to the one who asks of you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.

Matthew 5: 38-42 NRSVue Jesus of Nazareth

 One of the many terrible aspects of hatred is that it leads some individuals and nations to commit heinous acts that have little to do with their purported causes. Last week in Washington DC  a man who had no criminal record and held a decent job used a legally purchased handgun to kill a young couple he didn't know. He had some bizarre notion that murdering innocent people would somehow be a reprisal for the deaths of Palestinians in Gaza. 

Sarah Milgrim and her partner, Yaron Lischinsky were attending an inter-faith event  at the Capital Jewish Museum with the goal of "turning pain into purpose." Milgrim was already known for her engagement with organizations that brought together Christians and Jews and Muslims, Israelis and Palestinians. Her final master’s degree research project was on the role of cross-cultural friendships in peace-building.She had also worked with Arab and Palestinian communities through Tech2Peace, a joint Israeli-Palestinian NGO, which offers Palestinians access to high tech, entrepreneurship and new opportunities. 

Yasmina Asrarguis is French-Moroccan researcher at the Sorbonne who was a friend of Sarah Milgrim. Yasmina, a Muslim, and Sarah, a Jew, found common ground in seeking peace:

I learned Sarah was committed to a concept known as the “third narrative.” It’s a vision that seeks to rise above the noise of vengeance and violence by focusing instead on shared humanity and the mutual right to dignity, safety and peace for Jews and Muslims. This effort is about more than dialogue; it’s a deliberate stand against polarization. Sarah believed in creating a space for people to look for solutions.

I feel sorrow for the unrealized possibilities of the lives of Sarah and Yaron. Of course, the  man who killed them has snuffed out his own future, and to what end? Jesus understood the pointlessness of retaliation, that "third narrative," and some would consider his teaching naive, even absurd. Yet hatred is a death spiral. Will humanity ever learn?