The killing of Muhammad Abu Khdeir, 16-year-old resident of East Jerusalem found in the Jerusalem forest on Wednesday, was assumed to be a retribution attack for last month's abduction and murder of three Israeli teenagers.
While the murder of Israeli and Palestinian teenagers has unleashed calls for vengeance on both sides, there have also been remarkable gestures of condolence.
In recent weeks, some young Israelis have posted selfies holding up slogans such as "Israel demands revenge" or "Hating Arabs isn't racism, it's ethics," which received tens of thousands of "likes." On the day of the funeral of the Israeli teenagers, hundreds of young Israelis filled the streets of Jerusalem chanting, "death to Arabs".
But there have also been many calls for coexistence and mutual sympathy over the loss of young Israeli and Palestinian lives. Rachel Frenkel, mother of Naftali, one of the three murdered Israeli teens, released a statement condemning the "shedding of innocent blood in defiance of all morality, of the Torah, of the foundation of the lives of our boys and of all of us in this country."
