Statement from ‘L’chaim!’ on Iran’s Execution of a Jewish Man for Self-Defense

We, the 3,500 members of “L’chaim: Jews Against the Death Penalty” resoundingly condemn Iran’s execution of Nethanel ben Ziona Ghahremani (Hebrew name: Arvin Netanel ben Sonia). This abject abomination is scheduled to take place as early as on Saturday morning – on Shabbat.  Nethanel is a 20-year-old Jewish man who is going to be executed due to an act of self-defense against a Muslim man who attacked him with knife, but was killed himself.

Nethanel’s state murder, like far too many in the Middle East, is barely receiving coverage in the Western press, a fact that L’chaim members also lament as we call upon media outlets to cover all executions in Iran and in any actively executing nations.

We at L’chaim are against the death penalty in every case, without exception. This includes even the case of the Pittsburgh Tree of Life Synagogue shooter. Together with our partners at Death Penalty Action, we fight against each execution in the USA, where we are pen pals with ALL in line for state-murder here –  both the innocent and the guilty. We also advocate vociferously against the increasing calls for executions in Israel and across the world

Our opposition to state murder is grounded in the fact that, like one of our co-founders , many of us at L’chaim are direct descendants of Holocaust survivors, such as Elie Wiesel, who famously said of capital punishment: “Death is not the answer.”  We also follow in the footsteps of renowned Jewish theologian Martin Buber, and other Jewish human rights luminaries who opposed the execution of the Nazi mass murderer Adolf Eichmann. We are keenly aware that the USA continues to carry  on the Nazi legacy that is lethal injection, and to erect more and more gas chambers, including those that use Zyklon B. Against all these developments, we chant “NEVER AGAIN to state-sponsored murder!”

Our Jewish tradition teaches us the following: “Whoever destroys a life, it is considered as if he destroyed an entire world. And whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.” (Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5) If the press claims to be a guardian for the values we uphold most dearly, and if indeed the human right to life is foremost among those values – as it very well should be – then the planned, state-sponsored killing of any defenseless human being should be among the top stories featured in any respected international news outlet. As Elie Wiesel said: “With every cell of my being and with every fiber of my memory I oppose the death penalty in all forms. I do not believe any civilized society should be at the service of death. I don’t think it’s human to become an agent of the angel of death.” We cannot afford to become complacent when it comes to this man-made Angel of Death, lest it come for us all.

L’chaim – “to Life!

– Cantor Michael J. Zoosman, MSM

Board Certified Chaplain –  Neshama: Association of Jewish Chaplains

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

Advisory Committee Member –  Death Penalty Action