Distribution of Noose-Themed Pins in Schools Dishonors October 7th Anniversary

The thousands of members of “L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty” from across Israel, the United States, and the world join Herzliya Mayor Yariv Fisher in condemning Otzma Yehudit in the wake of a disgusting display in which a representative of that political party handed out noose-themed pins to students at Handasaim Herzliya High School during a visit that took place on Monday, just days before the third anniversary of the October 7th massacre in the Gaza envelope.

Fisher’s statement, released on October 5th, read that “The ugly incident – dangerous to Israeli society – that took place today at Handasaim High School…represents the crossing of an educational, ethical, and moral red line; this will not be overlooked. There are things that simply cannot happen within school walls, where many students are under the age of 18,”  The mayor added that “we educate our children on love of the land, patriotism, Zionism, and a deep commitment to the people and the state, but we will never be willing to taint their souls with symbols backed by repulsive, violent, and corrupting populism,” he said.

Another response to this disturbing incident came from Attorney Itamar Kramer, head of the State Education Watch organization. Kramer stated that “those who invite Kahanists [members of the Kahanist movement associated with extremist anti-Arab ideology] to their school get an education in revenge, bloodshed, and death in return.” He continued that “just as leftists or Arabs are not invited to religious or ultra-Orthodox schools, I expect state school principals not to invite elements associated with racism and the incitement of violence. There is no obligation to invite them; it is the principal’s personal decision,” Kramer said.

​The school administration reported that the Otzmah Yehudit representative had been told beforehand that distributing the pins would not be permitted and that, after the violation, school staff intervened and confiscated the pins from students who were wearing or holding them. Otzma Yehudit, the far-right nationalist party led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, responded in turn by defending the distribution of the noose-themed pins. They doubled down in their reply, affirming that “Otzma Yehudit is proud to demonstrate to the young generation in schools the importance of deterrence against terrorism, without fear and without blinking. A terrorist who comes to kill a Jew must die, period. The noose pin effectively illustrates the seriousness of our intentions, as reflected in the death penalty law we enacted. We will continue to be the spearhead in the fight against terrorism.”

​In response, L’chaim reiterates the veracity of the deterrence delusion and the underlying impulse for vengeance that the death penalty always serves. This reality indeed applies in the case of the murderous October 7th terrorist attack. This Machiavellian political play for election votes just ahead of that national day of mourning, like all other such displays, dishonors the sacredness of that day.

​Why Oppose the Death Penalty?

L’chaim has outlined ad nauseam many of the countless reasons why the death penalty is indeed nothing short of an abject abomination now in the twenty-first century. In the face of this recent call for death, we now do so again here:

1) It violates the human right to life.

2) It often results in physical torture, and always is psychological torture for individuals counting down to their execution day. There is no humane way to execute human beings against their will. Last week’s torture and botched execution of Christa Pike disgustingly proved this point once again.

​3) It invariably is implemented in a racist manner, including in the USA, where cases involving white victims yield the death penalty significantly more than those involving black victims, and in other nations whose laws openly target specific ethnicities. We recently saw this in Israel, whose first death penalty law this year targets Palestinian terrorists.

4) It risks executing the innocent. It so happens that Yom Kippur this year fell on September 21, which is a date when not one by two wrongfully accused individuals were executed, despite their innocence. Indeed, there have been over two hundred exonerations of wrongfully convicted death row inmates since the resumption of executions in the USA in 1976. This tally does not include those before 1976, like Sacco and Vanzetti, who were most likely innocent and executed in Massachusetts 99 years ago, to name just two. How many more were missed and wrongfully executed? We shall never know…

5) It is an insidious tool for vengeance. In a recent Jerusalem Post op-ed, David S. Levine responded to an essay that I penned on behalf of L’Chaim. My JPost op-ed had stated that “the death penalty is vengeance disguised as deterrence.” Mr. Levine’s retort, rather than denying this charge, openly acknowledged that the death penalty is indeed “unapologetically vengeance,” which he then proceeded to justify.

6) It traumatizes executioners and witnesses.

7) From Adolph Hitler to Donald Trump and elsewhere, the death penalty is used as a political tool, particularly for election campaigns, as Ben Gvir’s disgusting, sadistic comments praising a death viewing chamber recently demonstrated yet again.

8) Many execution methods are direct Nazi legacies, including firing squad, gassing, and lethal injection.

9) Meta-studies have determined time and again that the death penalty is not a deterrent. Deterrence is a fallacious delusion when applied to the death penalty, and “retributive” or “proportional” justice does not bring closure for murder victims’ loved ones.

10) Rather, the death penalty only creates more martyrs. A renowned comment regarding the well-established relationship between the death penalty and the desire for martyrdom comes from the 19th-century writer Eliphas Levi. He demonstrated a keen understanding of these basic human dynamics when he wrote: “Every head that falls upon the scaffold may be honored and praised as the head of a martyr.” History has proven this time and again.

11) Antisemitic extremists will assuredly blame all Jews for the execution of their enemies. They will conveniently fold the Israeli ambassador’s death advocacy into the narrative into which they have lumped those who advocate for capital punishment in Israel. It will neatly fit into a warped view of Israel – and, by extension, Judaism – as a so-called “Death Cult.”

​​Just as advocating for executions in Israel jeopardizes the safety and security of Jews across the globe in this way, it also threatens to permanently mar what remains of Israel’s moral standing among the vast majority of nations that have abolished the death penalty in law and practice. In the highly volatile political climate that now imperils the rule of law in Israel, this issue further normalizes the invocation of state violence. It widens the gap between modern-day Israel and the central Jewish value of life’s inviolability.

​Elie Wiesel encapsulated L’chaim’s stance when he said of capital punishment that – in the shadow of the Holocaust – “death should never be the answer in a civilized society.” Proponents of the death penalty for October 7th terrorists and others in and around Israel should heed Wiesel’s message. They should realize that executions – still – are not the answer today, and never should be.

May the abiding neshamot/spirits of those murdered on October 7th, 2023 be loving guides for us all now.

May their loved ones and all survivors be comforted among all the mourners of Israel and the world.

May no more blood be spilled in their sacred names.

May the killings END.

That, and not the symbolism of the noose, is the message we should be teaching the next generation: namely, “L’chaim – To Life!”​

Cantor Michael J. Zoosman, MSM

Jewish Prison Chaplain

Co-Founder: L’chaim: Jews Against the Death Penalty

Advisory Committee Member: Death Penalty Action